washington, putin told a russian network you can't spoil a spoiled relationship. thanks for joining us. brianna keilar picks up coverage right now. i am brianna keilar. i want to welcome viewers here in the united states and around the world. we begin with breaking news as his predecessor refuses to concede, president-elect joe biden is moving forward with his transition, revealing first group of cabinet picks that focus on foreign policy and national security. his transition team confirming biden is having a familiar washington face, tony blinken, as secretary of state, and making good on the promise to have a diverse administration. biden is tapping may or kiss for department of homeland security, biden is going with a familiar face as climate czar, former secretary of state john kerry. we have cnn's jeff zeleny

joining me now. tell us why biden is picking these folks for these roles chlts. >> these are coming in a speedy way here. this is faster than former president barack obama filled his cabinet. they're clearly moving in expedited fashion to fill the space they see, given all of what we are talking about going on in michigan. when you look at the roster of names as you said, familiar faces, long-standing experience in their areas of expertise, john kerry, former secretary of state, long time massachusetts senator, one of the authors of the paris climate accords is coming back into the administration, special envoy for climate change. this is something that doesn't need approval by the senate, he does not need to be confirmed. this is someone that will be on the national security council. that is one of the bigger surprises on the list of names. it is a who's who of who worked

inside the obama government, also for joe biden for a long time. tony blinken, nominee to be secretary of state, widely expected to be confirmed has been at biden's side for nearly two decades, traveling around the world, helping him craft foreign policy. he was deputy secretary of state. that's a key position. also, we are seeing a number of historic picks as well. as you said. leading as director of national intelligence, this is someone who is the first woman in that position, avril haynes. this is a widely respected slate of candidates here. of course, department of homeland security, symbolism here as well, nominating, scheduled to nominate the first latino and immigrant to lead department of homeland security. clearly, biden administration, incoming biden administration wasting no time to fill positions, doing so in symbolic

ways. >> they are. always interested in who is incoming. big four years ahead of us. jeff zeleny, appreciate it. live from wilmington. all eyes are on michigan and on pennsylvania. these states are beginning the process of possibly certifying the vote. in michigan, the board of canvas is meeting right about now, and i said possibly because those in trump camp, including the president himself, are pushing for the two republican members to vote no on certifying the vote. an effort to ignore the will of the voters of michigan who overwhelmingly chose joe biden to be the next president. the majority of pennsylvania's counties are expected to certify votes. some have already completed it. trump campaign's legal challenge in the keystone state fell flat,

was srejected. >> happy certification day in pennsylvania. philadelphia county will be certifying the election results later today. there's been no shortage of litigation, given its lack of merit one can assume it is to delay and disrupt things, but that's not going to happen. >> dianne gallagher is in michigan, covering this from lansing. tell us what we are expecting at this hour. >> reporter: so the state board of canvassers is supposed to be talking in a few minutes. there are some protesters out here who do not want them to certify the election. if you can hear me over the loud speakers, there are four members of board of canvassers. this is a mundane protocol they go through to certify what has already been certified by each of the counties.

there are two republicans, two democrats. one of the republicans has already indicated he isn't sure he is going to vote for certification. my producer, dan shepherd went to the republican's house, his wife said he is not going to talk about it. >> can you do us a favor, hold up the microphone closer to your mouth, tell us about that member of the canvassing board who we're waiting to see what they do. >> reporter: that's right. that is the other gop member of the canvassing board. his wife told my producer dan shepherd that he is not going to talk about what he wants to do until the meeting today. they're supposed to start in a few moments. you only need three of four members to vote for certification for it to happen, so that's why all eyes are on

him. now, the likelihood is that court of appeals would make a decision that would tell them if they have to certify. it is possible to go to the state supreme court. here's the key real quick. the key is that the secretary of state says she can't do any sort of investigation or audit unless it is certified. that's the keyword. >> can't do an investigation or audit unless it is certified. diane, thank you so much for weathering that. dianne gallagher in lansing. michigan could certify the results, a key republican as diane w die -- the house speaker is worried. as diane was describing, it gets

into a larger legal issue either. >> if there were a 2-2 split, it would go to michigan supreme court to determine what the response. >> i want to bring in steve lid he will, election expert, counsel sell to the michigan governor jennifer granholm. thank you for being with us. just explain how this could become a constitutional crisis for michigan. >> it is unlikely to become a constitutional crisis. we know that the courts generally in the past in other areas required board of canvassers to do statutory duty. they have to perform their function. they don't have discretion in performing functions outside of the statute. if they were to not vote or deadlock, i would expect

michigan court of appeaappeals order them and certify results. >> you have faith that this is not leading to constitutional crisis in michigan. there was an opinion piece in detroit free press where two law professors were arguing if officials refuse to certify results, it would be a felony violation of voting rights act of 1965. what do you think about that assessment? >> i'll let them analyze. as to michigan law, it is technically a violation for any state officer to willfully neglect a duty, both under election law and provision of the state's criminal law. so those are the potential consequences that have generally resulted in board of canvassers not acting when they have a duty to act in the past. in addition, they are members of the executive branch, subject to removal from office by the

governor of michigan. >> and there are two michigan lawmakers as you're well aware that met with the president friday. they issued a statement that said they had not been made aware of any information that would change outcome of the election. the president has been baselessly tweeting about voter fraud, fundraising off this, directly contradicting the message that michigan lawmakers put out there after meeting with him. how do you think voters view this process in light of all of the messages they're getting? >> well, typically it is simple. elections are an exercise in math. and the person with the most votes wins. and clearly by more than 150,000 votes in michigan, more than ten times the margin by which president trump won michigan in 2016, joe biden received more votes. i think the people generally expect him to be certified as

winner of the election in michigan. >> it all sounds so simple the way you explain it. more votes, the winner. the republican national committee and state republican party, steve, they want the board to adjourn 14 days to investigate. the alleged irregularities in wayne county, what do you say to that? >> the party and the trump campaign have had the opportunity to present in court, they had their day in court to present any allegations of wrongdoing, and thus far been unsuccessful. michigan courts so far found any allegations that they have been presented as unpersuasive. they also have opportunity and have not presented any hard evidence to the secretary of state who is obligated under michigan election law to conduct investigations. with the legislature vested those functions for investigation and audit in the

secretary of state, not in board of canvassers. so the board's duty is simply to compile votes, verify they're properly documented from each of the 83 counties and certify state results. they have no other duties under michigan law. >> they have one job. we will see how it goes. steve, thank you so much for being with us. live from michigan. >> thank you. more and more republicans are speaking out against the president's baseless efforts to overturn the election, including one republican who calls his legal team a national embarrassment. also, as the pandemic worsens, millions of americans are packing airports and ignoring the cdc warnings this holiday week. and news on a third vaccine as america's warp speed chief says life may get back to normal next may. it's footlong season™ at subway and minitron's got some new news! contactless curbside pickup is here! just tap for tasty in the app.

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slowly some republicans seem to be coming around. a few more are saying they think joe biden's transition team should be given access to the trump administration and their intelligence information. while a few others, voice desires for president trump to stop the games and accept the outcome of the election. >> we are beginning to look like a banana republic. it is time for them to stop the nonsense. it gets more bizarre every single day. frankly, i'm embarrassed more people in the party aren't speaking up. >> voters have spoken. in michigan, 154,000 vote margin by president-elect biden, no one has come up with any evidence of fraud or abuse.

it's over. >> still, majority of republicans are enabling the president's time and money sucking legal battles, that's what's happening in public. behind the scenes, dozens of elected republicans are done with donald trump. behind the scenes, they complain about the trump strategy. out in the open, they're firmly behind the president's shenanigans. vice president and senior fellow at the ethics and public policy center is a former senior adviser to george w. bush who long ago congratulated joe biden on his win. i want to thank you so much for coming onto talk to us about this. republicans are clearly worried that their constituents will say something, will hold it against them if they speak out against the president. i think we're seeing it with most republicans. how are those folks navigating this? >> well, not well because they're not serving the country, they're acting dishonorably. i understand there's a constituency for donald trump

and it is the core of the republican party. no question about this. this is not just any other moment in american history, this is a vital moment. we have a person who is president who is fundamentally i will liberal, anti-democratic, doing a tremendous amount to try and, well, it is a civic desecration really. if you're a lawmaker, a citizen, if you're a human being, seems to me you have obligation to speak out, speak the truth, speak the truth to power. unfortunately this is part of a trend going on for four or five years. they became habihuated during the trump presidency. this is how it ends when it is badly. >> they are habituated in mind and heart. how should they navigate it. when i think of members of congress, i think most of them

believe when history calls in a certain moment, they'll answer the call and do the right thing. i firmly believe that about most members of congress. yet we're not actually seeing that. why do you think that is? >> well, john f. kennedy said there's a reason profiles in courage was symbolic. we think that of ourselves and we are, encourage is a rare virtue. aristotle thought it was the chief virtue, but it is rare. and we like to tell ourselves in moments of challenge when it is difficult to do the right thing, there's a cost to doing the right thing, we'll do it anyway. very few have done it. larry hogan has done it, mitt romney, justin amash, but by and large, the entire republican party from lawmakers to its infrastructure has either gone quiet during the presumptive presidency or enabled and emboldened him. they have not said publicly what they would have said and indeed

have said privately because they were too afraid. everybody understands fear as a human emotion, but it shouldn't drive it at key moments in a person's life and in a nation's life, and they went quiet. they went cowardly. there's a cost to that to the country and cost in terms of history and their own reputation. >> you know, the president, i'm sure you have been watching this, peter, he is fundraising off these efforts, these ridiculous legal efforts and losing legal efforts. most of the money isn't going to his legal battles. that's what we learned. what can the money be used for? >> i think this is probably going toward the re-election campaign. who knows. the thing that's so clear about trump and the trump family, they're corrupt from stem to stern. they're going to use the money in ways that's inappropriate, i am quite confident of that.

i want to say one thing, too, you mention chris christie, said it is a national embarrassment what's going on. better late than never, but this is really, really late. you have to keep in mind that chris christie did everything he could to help donald trump win re-election. the way trump is ending this presidency, this civic desecration should come as a surprise to exactly no one on the planet. chris christie had to know this is fundamentally who donald trump was and is and it is only now when trump has lost and his power is hemorrhaging away from him that these people are now all of a sudden beginning to find their voice. would have helped if chris christie, and a lot of other people speaking out, i am glad they're speaking out now, they should have been saying this when it mattered when trump was president. they created this anti-democratic frankenstein. now they want to shut hun him d

>> we talked about that, and chris christie particularly on this show. are they really trying to shut him down or are they trying to save themselves politically now that he has lost. >> i think both. i think the fact that he has lost emboldens them to find their courage and to speak out. but look, i think they do want to shut him down. they know what a freak show this is. these are the weirdest, most bizarre conspiracy theories you can imagine. they all know that. they're embarrassed by it. they know how this is going to end. joe biden will be president, three minutes after noon on january 20th. they want to get rid of trump or get him out of the spotlight. i'm sure a lot of them, including chris christie, hope he goes off in the sideline, isn't heard from again. that won't be the case. i think it is a combination. i think they generally want to have him shut up and do what's right.

i also think the reason they're speaking out now is they don't think there's nearly as much cost to do it now as there was when trump was president and was in power. >> definitely. peter, pleasure to have you on. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. i appreciate it. >> we appreciate it. we have live pictures here as we are watching the election board in michigan. a republican is expected to vote against certifying the results in an extraordinary move. that person has one job, we expect they're not going to do it. plus doctors and nurses say they're angry. they're watching americans ignore cdc warnings and travel for the thanksgiving holiday. it comes as some states warn they're running out of icu beds. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection

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we are beginning this thanksgiving week with coronavirus numbers that can only be described as disastrous. 20 straight days of 100,000 plus new infections a day. most days we soared past that number. we average 170,000 new infections in the last week.

hospitalizations are rising as dramatically as case numbers. for the last 13 days, hospitalizations nationwide have broken the record set the day before. 84,000 americans at this moment are hospitalized, fighting coronavirus, according to the covid tracking project. on sunday, more than 900 deaths were reported in the u.s., with the average daily death toll being 1500, that's the deadliest since may. despite warnings to stay home because of the surging pandemic, millions of americans are traveling for the thanksgiving holiday, ignoring guidance from the cdc. more than 3 million pass through security and check points at airports across the country this weekend, the highest number of people passing through airports since the pandemic began. and they're doing it at the worst point of the pandemic. cnn's adrienne broaddus is at o'hare. tell us what you're seeing with the numbers, knowing we are

dealing with a contagious virus, this is shaping up to be a disaster. >> reporter: brianna, we have seen families traveling with small children, a lot of college students and numbers you just mentioned were not enough to keep people from passing through the lines here at this stewart checkpoint. we have seen people wearing their mask, some cases they have on a face shield, too. i have always seen some people without a mask. the u.s. is gaining this reputation for breaking records. you mentioned one record, 3.1 million cases so far this november. and we're not done with the month yet, despite numbers, people tell us today they want to see and wrap their arms around people they love. that's one reason a lot of college students said they were going home to see families. one gentleman told us he tested negative before traveling but again, brianna, top doctors told us a negative covid test is not

a green light to travel to see relatives. meanwhile, the airlines, american specifically, normally has 4400 flights a day. for the thanksgiving holiday travel, they're going from 3400 flights a day to 4,000 flights. the airlines aren't encouraging or discouraging people from traveling. brianna? >> i hear you saying that. they want to wrap their arms around loved ones, but they're running a risk of giving them more than just a hug. we'll be checking in with you at chicago o'hare. thank you so much for that result. the director of hospital medicine at emory st. joseph's hospital in atlanta area, doctor, you're listening to the numbers. 3400 flights a day, going up to 4,000. you know that they increased flights. we would be safe assuming more people are on the flights as

well. what is your concern about what this is going to bring to us at this point in the pandemic? >> thanks for having me, brianna, pleasure to be with you. as travel increases this week, obviously the concern is that cases are going to go up. each family has to make their own individual decision. i will share with you that i come from a family of health care workers with my wife and brother being physicians, sister-in-law being a pharmacist. we had to make a difficult decision to cancel thanksgiving because we don't want to increase risk for any of us, our loved ones or anybody else in the community. >> so that is the personal decision you made. i'm sure you're aware of a lot of friends not making that decision as well. probably even people in the medical industry who are not making that decision. that's just the reality. we're seeing folks who normally practice safe measures when it comes to coronavirus, and there's something about this holiday that they're making a decision, maybe it has to do

with that mental health and family connection. i think that's obvious. when you are seeing some people in the airport and are wearing masks, does that make you feel more at ease or is that not enough? >> you know, it does make me feel more at ease, but we know it doesn't take care of the risk 100% also. at the end of the day, we still want to follow guidelines, protect each other, the three ws, we want to follow wearing a mask, washing hands and watching distance, the best things to do in reasonable measures without a vaccine now. large crowds gathering in airports or community dwellings, still doesn't take the risk away 100%. >> do you think that americans are really aware of what's happening now in hospitals? >> you know, i think there's an awareness of what's happening, but i think americans in general are feeling what health care workers are feeling.

we are feeling frustrated, angry, feeling sad. we all share these feelings with the ongoing pandemic now entering the tenth month of that. we want normalcy. without being in the hospital, seeing what's going on, you may not grasp the severity of the situation, but health care workers can attest to that. it is one of the things until you are in the position, you may not grasp how severe the situation is. for that reason, we want to listen to experts and health care workers on the frontlines every day, fighting the pandemic, attesting to the severity it can bring. >> doctor, thank you for joining us. we really need the reality check. >> thank you for having me. now to the vaccine front where there are some encouraging reports. new data released by astra-zeneca and oxford university that shows their coronavirus vaccine is about 70% effective, meaning we now have three potential vaccines on the horizon. cnn senior medical correspondent

elizabeth cohen joins us now. i know people will listen to this, say 70%, that's good. except pfizer and moderna are reporting 95% efficacy. >> that's right, so that's important to keep in mind, not all vaccines are going to be equal. another important thing to keep in mind, brianna, all of this is early data. astra-zeneca's data is especially early, based on trials in the uk and brazil, their trials in the u.s. are still ongoing. we expect to hear more from them. one person told me, i don't feel like this is quite yet fully baked. let's look at the specific numbers. astra-zeneca announcing they have 70% effectiveness, and there were 12,000 people in their study. moderna announcing 94.5% effectiveness last week. had about 30,000 study participants. that matters. more people gives you a more robust finding. pfizer, 44,000 people, 95%.

we are waiting for more from astra-zeneca as they continue to do their large u.s. trial, what numbers will they get from that. brianna? >> so when will vaccinations begin? >> right. this is what's on everybody's mind. we can't predict the future. however, we did ask dr. fauci and we asked the head of operation warp speed what's going on here, when do you think this will happen. this is the forecast. we know from the weather, forecasts are often wrong, but this is what they're outlooking. dr. fauci says he thinks toward latter half of december we in the united states will start vaccinating high risk folks, health care workers, people with underlying medical conditions, elderly people, essential workers like police officers, and then at the end of april will start. starting end of april to vaccinate everyone else. people that are not in one of the high risk groups.

dr. slawi thinks by may, we may have immunized 70% of the population, which would be terrific. remember, these are forecasts, it may turn out better than this, may take longer than this. brianna? >> let's hope that holds. elizabeth, thank you so much. the president's legal team led by rudy giuliani is kicking one of its members out for doing what all of the rest of the members of the team are doing, we will roll the tape. and the president baselessly shouting fraud when it comes to cities who have a heavy black population. i'm going to speak with a professor in one of the cities calling it, quote, vile. you can do better, steve! get a freshly made footlong, from subway®! you can even order on the subway® app! did i just get picked off by deion sanders? you sure did! now in the app, get a free footlong when you buy two. because it's footlong season™!

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the president taking l after l in the baseless election fight, even though his legal team billed itself as the best since perry mason and "matlock." >> this is an elite strike force teamworking on behalf of the president and campaign to make sure our constitution is protected. >> that elite strike force team is more like the expendables now. team member sidney powell pedalled nonsense theories as well as lies about venezuela

rigging the election and georgia republicans fixing the vote. now the president's campaign throwing her off the zodiac raft. she is not a member of the trump legal team, not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity. rudy giuliani and jenna ellis are trying to erase powell from the elite strike force team with that statement after previously promoting her contributions. >> i'm in charge of this investigation with sidney and people that you see here. >> jenna ellis who cowrote that statement disavowing her membership, tagged powell in tweets, including one that labeled her a member of the national legal team. sidney powell even had a speaking role at the trump legal team bananas press stunt last week. rnc promoted her absurd comments that president trump won in a landslide. right wing outlets gave her a platform as a, quote, member of

the president's legal team, likely because the president described her that way, saying she was part of a, quote, truly great team added to our other wonderful lawyers and representatives. now, it is unclear why she was ejected from planet trump's orbit. reports show she was getting too fringe which is odd, that doesn't differentiate her from the rest of the legal team, it makes her fit right in there. rudy giuliani pedals many of the same theories powell has, including those about voting machines in venezuela. the idea the president is losing patience with a conspiracy theorist is like growing tired of watching cable news. not believable. another lawyer in the thick of claiming she's fighting for future of democracy responded to a republican polster that criticized her saying he has, quote, micro penis syndrome. from the same jenna ellis that declared foul language, name calling, personal attacks would

not be tolerated by her on twitter. maybe the bigger question, why sidney powell, not rudy giuliani? guiliani who couldn't answer basic legal questions in federal court, his performance a mockery by any objective court observer. rudy giuliani who is under active investigation by the fbi, who unwittingly took a role in borat 2. and a press conference at a landscaping company next to a sex shop. sidney powell is simply the fall guy for a president that likes to win, who said we would be tired of winning, doesn't appear to be tired of losing. the election legal team and allies lost more than 30 court cases at this point. there must be a scapegoat. that is sidney powell, sacrificed for an effort to overturn the election that's melting faster than rudy giuliani's hair. and ahead, president-elect

biden revealing more picks from his cabinet, including the homeland security cabinet and role for john kerry and the former defense secretary says joe biden should drop the america first slogan. kids, what do you want for lunch? pizza. tacos. pizza! what about subway? it's a good call and everyone loves it. we raised our kids on it. so it stopped the bickering? (mocking tone) "mom, jj's copying me!" grow up. mom! knock it off! try the new subway buffalo chicken or bbq chicken.

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james mattis telling president-elect joe biden to scrap president trump's america first slogan. i want to go to barbara starr. this is an interesting development that you have a trump defense secretary telling the incoming president to do

this. >> well, it is interesting. i think inside national security circles here in washington, maybe not a huge surprise, but interesting there's such a public repudiation of it now that president trump is on the way out of office. mattis, along with others, i want to read you just a bit of it. he said that when president joe biden and his national security team begin to reevaluation u.s. foreign policy, we hope they will quickly revise the national security strategy to eliminate "america first" from its contents. it goes on to stay restoring the more traditional approach to alliances. former vice president biden making mods today, speaking to %-p

you know -- has there been a sort of fracture with the alliance, poor relations with germany, and many people the real need to shore up that east european flank of nato against any russian adventurism signaling today with the call to the nato secretary-general that that may not be happening, that this alliance and others will be restored. america first perhaps back on the back burner. brianna? >> barbara starr, thank you. back to our breaking news now. president-elect biden reveals more picks from his cabinet, including director of national intelligence. plus a role for john kerry. if you're on medicare, remember, the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage... ends december 7th. so talk to unitedhealthcare and take advantage of a wide choice of plans... including an aarp medicare advantage plan

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president trump and his allies are now trying to

overturn president-elect joe biden's key victory in key battleground states, in cities like philadelphia, detroit, atlanta and milwaukee. they're claiming these cities are rife with fraud, and they're doing it without evidence. i want to bring in professor carol -- from emerson university. tell us your view of what this means for where we are at when it comes to african-americans voting and being discouraged from voting, and then having their votes questioned. >> i think it really speaks to the fact that for the republicans, african-americans are seen as not legitimate americans. because they're not legitimate americans, they don't have the right to vote. you see this because of a long-term play to use the

language of voters fraud, voter fraud, and then define that fraud as happening in cities, although there have been no -- there is no evidence, no proofs of this long-standing, widespread voter free throw, but it's a way to conjure up the notion of a black illegitimacy. >> this country has a history of that, frougt? right? a history that african-americans have tried to overcome. a lot of people believe this should go in one direction, increasing the ability for african-americans to vote. look, i think there are some republicans, professor, who do not like what they're seeing, but knowing that, what are republicans who are in that position need to do in order to

turn this around for their party? >> one of the things they need to do is to stand up and say we believe in democracy, that there is absolutely no evidence of some kind of widespread voter fraud, particularly in these cities that have sizable black populations, and to then just go for it. call trump and all of these legal claims out for the farce and for the corrosive effect that this has on democracy. we saw the violence that happened to black people after reconstruction, when they tried to vote. we saw it during jim crow. this is why we had to have a voting rights act. now we're getting the kind of what i call bureaucratic violence, where the claims are that these aren't real voters, so we don't have to count their votes, because they have used the mail in the middle of a

pandemic. or that, you know, we're not sure they did this, or they did that, but when you try to nail them down, you read these lawsuits, there's -- it's a hearsay of a hearsay of a hearsay. so it's time to call it out and fight for democracy. >> do you think, professor, that black voters will look at what's happened and they will be discouraged from voting? or do you think they might take away a lesson that actually their vote is important and they might be encouraged to vote? >> i think what they're seeing is that their vote is really powerful. that's why you have this array of folks coming at it, and it's going to steel the determination to vote, to register to vote and then to vote. if your vote wasn't so powerful,

why are these coming at it the way they are? >> professor carol anderson, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. it's the top of the hour. i'm brianna keilar. as president trump trying to sow disorder, states are moving ahead to certify votes, and this is to certify that joe biden won both of those states. in michigan biden won by a margin of more than 150,000 votes. i want to bring in david chalian to talk about this. michigan is voting on certification. most counties in pennsylvania are doing it as well. georgia will have a recount these are not the form as