welcome back. i'm brianna keilar. in a few minutes we expect to see president donald trump lish live at the white house second time today. far and few from the president, appearances since he lost the election. instead twitter tirades and golf outings. today we saw a very short statement from him in the briefing room as the dow cracked the 30,000 mark for the first time and we will get to see the president in the rose garden taking part in a historically light-hearted tradition, the turkey pardon. this year, corn and cob, the turkeys, overshadowed by the president's accesses as he refuses to accept another tradition. the smooth transition of power from one administration to the

next. cnn white house correspondent kaitlan collins is with us now. kaitlan, set the scene what we are about to see. >> reporter: well, this is the traditional thanksgiving pardon the president did does. normally does it every year before he and the first lady go down to palm beach. briann brianna, we are not seeing that. the president scrapped the trip aides say he has a lot to get done given his time in office is coming to a close. two months left for the president to occupy the west wing. the appearance comes after what we saw yesterday, the stonewalling of gsa for the biden administration coming to an end so the transition can begin and we're seeing that start to take place with officials lie the hhs secretary saying they are getting ready to meet with these officials, providing them with briefing materials. the question, that is close a concession as we'll see president trump get. even though he basically said on

twitter he blessed the move to let it happen and the gsa saying he moved independently but the president vowed to move forward with legal fights and they're hitting dead ends in court we nope. the question, how much longer does the president keep this up? he's not taking questions from reporters on his mind-set on all of this is. >> earlier today when the dow hit 30,000 kaitlan, of course a milestone. exact opposite when president donald trump predicted joe biden would bring on if elected. >> if joe biden ever got in, i think you'd have a depression the likes of which we've never seen in this country. look at his poilicies, wants to raise everybody's taxes, what he wants to do in terms of regulation, put all of the regulations back than i took off, and then some. >> biden and harris get into power, they will destroy america. we will never let it happen.

our stock market would crash. our stocks, our 401(k)s, our jobs, everything would go down. it would be worse than 1929. >> they said the stock market if i'm elected if elected, the stock market will crash. >> you know, we heard and we heard again from the president as it hit that moment, kaitlan. a bizarre appearance in the briefing room. >> reporter: bizarre, one the fact we haven't real seen the president that much since the election. hasn't taken questions in three weeks. the white house gave us a two minutes heads-up the president would actually come into the briefing and spoke about a minute. also the president was taking credit for this milestone with the dow hitting 30,000, which, of course, could be in part to the fact this transition is taking place, such good vaccine news and reporting joe biden is slated to pick janet yellen as treasury secretary. the president trying to take credit in the briefing room

along with the vice president standing next to him did not answer questions either. like he did not last week as well. this is a president i think we can expect to see more moments like this where the president is going to come out, people think he might be coming out to concede instead the president is come fing to take credit for something like this and still refusing to answer questions he's been pushing back on results of this election and actively trying to undermine democracy. something his aides don't want to talk about and clearly the president does not want to answer questions about either. >> no, he does not. just in, the white house coronavirus task force is sounding an alarm on the pandemic and calling for americans to change their behavior fast but it's coming as the holidays are upon us here. bring in elizabeth cohen to talk about this. what are they warning about here, elizabeth? >> reporter: they're warning, brianna, telling americans we need to get better, bettering a

mack usage and social distancing. even saying in some states seeing particularly high rises that they should think about, for example, cutting out indoor dining or other kinds of things where people congregate. this is, very clear that in some parts of the country things are going better than in other parts of the country. all of this i think experts tell you, yes, this is what people, what they should be saying, but the words, too little, too late, definitely come to mind. i mean, why are they saying this now? why wasn't this message being put out for the past many months, when you have a president, the white house task force, when you have the president making fun of people who wore masks? it's hard to get the -- oh, no, pe want you to wear masks. menking only works whb consiste when it's from the taj and occurs over time. >> new research showing wearing a mask could be the most effective weapon to stop the threat of covid completely.

tell us about what that research said and if it's really too late here? >> you know, it's never too late. right? it's never too, too late. it is always good to take these steps, even though it would have been way better if the steps were taken many months ago. what this study showed is if 70% of americans wore masks, that it could end the pandemic. now, you know, it may not -- i'm sure experts could argue whether it would actually end the pandemic and if so in how much time, but the point is well taken. study after study has shown that masks work. you don't have to be a genius to figure this out. if you're wearing a mack, you're keeping your spit to yourself and the person you're talking to are keeping their spit to themselves. just makes sense that masks work. unfortunately, the megging on ma -- messaging on masks back and forth. the white house task force now saying, gee, no ed to get better

about masks but the president making fun of people who wearing a masks. this has been going on for months. back and forth. messaging needs to be consistent in order for it to work, learning, this is key, one of the delays when it came to the biden transition was, how are they going to get their hands fully around coronavirus the vaccine all at this key moment? we're learning that the transition has begun when it comes to hhs. tell us about this. >> reporter: right. secretary azar secretary of hhs did say today we are in touch with the biden team. the transition is happening. this is after he said previously we're not doing any kind of transition work until the gsa tells us we can. this is new. this is new that secretary azar says, yes, making the transition happen. this is weeks after the election. why did it take this long to start this transition? a problem for all of government and especially hhs. hhs is at the helm of the

greatest public health campaign and effort that ma probably ever done in this country. that's trying to vaccinate and entire country very quickly. as quit quickly as possible. logistically and incredibly a difficult endeavor. we're up to the tasks, but it's going to be difficult. the more you delay the transition, delay all logistics and things that need to be worked on together between the two teams, the longer it's going to take. >> so true. elizabeth cohen, thank you so much. as president-elect biden officially begins this transition process, a new model predicts the staggering toll the coronavirus could take by inauguration day. forecasting 20 million u.s. cases in total by january 20th. meaning close to 8 million additional cases according to this model from washington university in st. louis. researchers there also say if social distancing measures increased by just 10%, a very

realistic goal, there would be 5 million fewer infections. the prediction comes as america continues experiencing skyrocketing spread. this week many are defying cdc guidance not to travel for the thanksgiving holiday. the nation is reporting more than 169,000 new infections on monday alone with 889 deaths. that makes three solid weeks 21 days in a row of daily case numbers exceeding 100,000. hospitals, coast to coast, they are inundated. look at this ramp-up. two solid weeks of record-breaking hospitalizations with the latest tally finding nearly 86,000 people are currently in the hospital right now being treated for covid. just listen to this critical care doctor in minnesota describing the suffering she sees from patients terrified of dieing alone. >> i think in one word it's -- it's heartbreaking.

the last time i was on service i took care of five patients who had covid. the other patient i discharged on hospice was 41 years old and she was terrified of dieing alone. and the other two patients i had were a married couple in their 80s. the wife got sicker and sicker. and she died in the hospital. and her husband had to watch her die. so he had to see that fear and that grief -- and i don't think it's -- i don't think you can describe how that feels to us as their caretakers to have to see that kind of suffering. from patients. and you know, that was me in one day at the hospital. this is all of my colleagues are experiencing seeing this at every hospital. we're seeing health care workers, you know, we're taking care of colleagues who we see in the halls every day. people we work with, that we're now having to take care of as

patients patients, and we see entire families who can't isolate from each other that are literally getting sick. i took care of a woman who, you know, after over a month in the icu was recovering from covid. and that should be a win, but we were trying to call her family every day to give them an update and couldn't get ahold of anyone. and then one day we found out her husband died of covid and her daughter died of covid, all while she was in the hospital. so how do you tell somebody that? how do you tell somebody that their family has died? >> now, remember, for weeks in the spring america's pursuit was all about "flattening the curve" to help keep hospitals from forced to turn away patients not sick from coronavirus. now the surgeon general says some health systems reached that point. cnn's jacqueline howard has

details. jacqueline? >> reporter: brianna, a wake-up call about just how dire the covid-19 pnds pandemic is right. because of a surge in cases many hospitals are running out of beds, impacts pregnant women and heart patients. here's for from dr. jerome adams what he had to say about this. >> i've heard hospitals not able to provide care for pregnant women because they're filled with covid beds. 40 states seeing cases go up and those cases are turning into hospitalizations and deaths. you may not be able to go in and get your heart attack treated. >> brianna, the reality. the surgeon general goes on to say that there is hope. people just need to follow guidelines and have a safe thanksgiving. meantime, there is progress being made in developing a vaccine. back to you, brianna. >> jacqueline howard, thank you. in california, the average number of daily new coronavirus

cases has more than doubled in the past weeks. it is a frightening trend heading into the thanksgiving holiday, and one of the hoss spots is los angeles. the mayor there warning residents the situation could spiral out of control if things don't change soon. cnn correspondent stephanie elam is there and stephanie, mayor garcetti laying out a grim future. tell us about this? >> reporter: it's true. put it in perspective. a state of about 40 million people and had more than 1.1 million cases in the state. that means the vast majority of the population is still vulnerable to the coronavirus. when you take a look at what we're seeing here with the numbers spiking in los angeles county, mayor garcetti is saying that this is not the time to travel, to stay put. the worst of it. i know everyone's tired but this is the worst of it. take a listen to what he said. >> los angeles is on a very dangerous path. if we don't make changes soon to our day-to-day lives we'll have

more infections, suffering more hospitalizations and yes, more death. in the last week alone we've seen it accelerate more hospitalizations up 50% in the last week. at this rate our hospitals won't have any spare beds by christmastime. >> reporter: think about what he is saying there. saying right now don't travel anywhere. let alone getting 0en a plane or train. he's saying don't even travel across town. beginning monday, new implements that they are going to institute here in los angeles county. saying that any visitor from a different state or from a different county, country, will have to go ahead and sign a form saying that they understand the travel restrictions in california. and even if you're a california resident, you will be required to quarantine for 14 days. this is because we are looking at the fact that the numbers skyrocketed. record numbers here in los angeles county over the last few days. yesterday we saw over 6,000 that did include a backlog of 1,500

from over the weekend. still, this pace of rise is much higher than it was over the summer. >> all right. we will be watching it with you, ste stephanie elam in los angeles. one family has a warning about thanksgiving after a birthday celebration unravelled into a super spreader event. al i'm going to speak with them. plus, moments from now president trump is scheduled to appear live for the annual thanksgiving tradition of the turkey pardon, but what should we expect about other pardons he may be making in his final days? this is cnn special live coverage.

with thanksgiving two days away one family in texas wants to spare you from what they call the guilt of gathering. 15 members of this family contracted coronavirus after getting together to celebrate a birthday on november 1st. after months of staying at home and wearing masks, and they tell their story in a public service announcement from the city of arlington. >> weeks ago i had family over at my house for some cake for my wife's birthday. >> i went to my neighbor's house and seeing my family, but now i'm fighting against covid-19. >> now i'm fighting coronavirus. >> we have covid-19. >> all of our family has covid-19. >> when we took my mom to the hospital, our hearts broke. we feel guilty for gathering. >> and alexis is with me now. you saw her now in that psa and works in community relations for the city of arlington, texas, and spearheaded his psa of her

family. thanks for joining us to talk about this. i want to mention you didn't attend this event. you drove your mom to the gathering. tell us about how your family came to this decision especially after taking proper measures, but decided that they wanted to get together? >> of course, and thank you for having me. my family believed just like many other families here in the u.s. that take their day very seriously, they cover and use every precaution and think that just gathering with those that they know with the family that's closest to them they'd be safe from covid-19. whenever that text message came through through a group message of the family, we didn't think anything about it. everyone is taking care of themselves and not putting themselves in harm's way. my family just now regrets that the decision where we decided to let our guard down. >> the timing of that is incredibly important, because your family is, i mean, it's not

unique. this is what families all over the country are doing now. we see it in the airport numbers. tell us what happened. tell us how many people gathered and about how many people got sick. >> of course. my family, whenever they went over to my cousin's house, four live there and eight decided to attend. all 12 tested positive for covid-19 just three days later. after that those 12 infect tleed more making a total of 15 of my closest relatives having covid-19. >> tell us about sort of the range of symptoms? i know your mom particularly has struggled with her coronavirus diagnosis. >> correct. so my family has almost every single simple texhibit, fever, chills, pain in the chest. cough. anything that you would think coronavirus has to offer my family has that. unfortunately my mother was the

one that had the worst case. day six of the infection she had a fever of 103 la that lasted several days. the family decided not to take her to the e.r. right away because so many across the nation are struggling to find beds and icus and a couple days after that, day 12 of the infection, she got very sick. took her to the first hospital and she was, had pneumonia, sent back home because she was okay. the next day felt even worse, took her to a different hospital, second opinion. they admitted her right away. >> admitted her right away for pneumonia. so which obviously is very serious having difficulty ux str struggling to breathe. how did you decide, i need to share this story. certainly in your professional capacity, it made sense, but also it's about taking a story that could be embarrassing to your family and trying to tell other families about this. >> correct. my family you know, is like

every other family that doesn't want to publicly put out their issues but my family knew it was a very passionate quest of mine to bring up information to the city of arlington and understand our story resonating different than stories from the past. just a few of us. i diligently spoke to my mother first and a couple others asking their opinions, seeking advice and if they were willing and able to and my family collectively decided yes, it's worth sharing to save one life and that one life is important enough to share. >> as you're watching, i mean, u knee you ha i know you've seen the news reports what we're seeing at hospitals and certainly you made this a priority to reach out to, as you said, to diversify the message, in particular trying to target hispanic families with the message. who maybe sometimes are not getting as many of the messages

as the broader american community is. tell us what you want people across the country to know. >> this thanksgiving we need to get more creative in the way we gather. you don't need to be in-person to feel closeness with one another. modify the way he celebrate thanksgiving now and the holidays later in the season we can save ourselves so many more holidays in the future. my family is just like every owe family that takes precautions. but the only warning we didn't heed was gathering in enclosed small spaces. please, don't gather with those that are outside of your home. find creative ways to stay together, because only a part together is the way we fight the virus. >> alexa, thank you so much for coming on to talk with us. thank you for telling us your family story and hopefully it will be powerful and people will listen to it. >> thank you so much. we have more breaking news. president-elect joe biden introducing the first group of his cabinet picks and they all

made veiled references. the last four years. takeaways in what their plans are in the first 100 days. plus, live pictures. the president will soon be pardoning turkeys in this final thanksgiving tradition at the white house. this is cnn special live coverage.

-- people have no idea how complex it is. you've didn't a very fantastic job. thank you very much.

and also very happy to have with us my daughter ivanka and jared. and theodore, air berabella and joseph. thank you. and i wish every american a very healthy and happy thanksgiving. we're here today to continue a beloved annual tradition. the official pardon of a very, very fortunate turkey. because thanksgiving is a special day for turkeys, i guess probably for the most part not a very good one, when you think about it. the first turkey to dodge the white house dinner table received unofficial clemency when president abraham lincoln's son tad begged his father to spare his new friend. for the past 73 years, the national turkey federation has presented the national thanksgiving turkey to the president starting under president george h.w. bush.

these birds receive add formal pardon every single year. today is my honor to present to you this year's lucky bird. corn and just in case we needed him, cob. corn and cob. that's not too hard to remember. is it? these two magnificent gobblers were selected from the official presidential flock of 30 turkeys. real beauties. raised by the chairman of the national turkey federation himself. ron cardell. ron, thank you very much, ron. please, stand up. great job. [ applause ] ron, thank you for being here and your family. beautiful family, thank you very much for being here. appreciate it. like so many presidential flocks this one started in the great state of iowa. in what can only have been described as an act of blatant pandering and by the way i love the state of iowa. these two turkeys sought to win the support of iowans across the state by naming themselves corn

and cob. after today's ceremony, these birds will retire under the care of skilled veterinarians at iowa state university, a tremendous university. in ames. once there, people are all ages will be able to visit them and learn about poultry science, veterinary medicine and the noble american tradition of farming. we love our farmers. i'm tell you. and we hope and we know it's going to happen that corn and cob have a very long, happy and memorable life. this year our nation commemorates the 400th anniversary of the pilgrims landing on plymouth rock after arriving in the new world. the brave men and women of the mayflower endured a bitter and dangerous woir ouous winter. very, very dangerous. many sick, most starving and all praying for america. thankfully god heard their prayers.

from our earliest days america has always been a story of perseverance and triumph, determination, strength, loyalty and faith. this week in a time that is very unusual but in so many ways very, very good, what we've endured and been able to endure, with the vaccines now coming out, one after another. incredible thing that happened. the greatest medical achievements that this planet has ever seen. but it's time to remember that we live in a great, great country. the greatest of them all. and there's nothing even close as far as i'm concerned. every american can be united in thanksgiving to god for the incredible gifts he has bestowed upon us, the blessings of family, community and just exceptional, beautiful and great country. greater than ever before. during this thanksgiving we extend our essential gratitude to the doctors, nurses, health

care workers and scientists who have waged the battle against the china virus, and we give thanks for the vaccines and therapies that will soon end the pandemic. it's just, just such a tremendous feeling to know that they're coming and they'll be coming probably starting next week. shortly thereafter. we send our love to every member of the armed forces, and the law enforcement heroes risking their lives to keep america safe. to keep america great. and as i say, america first. shouldn't go away from that. american first. we give thanks to the priceless freedoms we've inheritsed and we ask god to watch over and protect our nation, and its people during this incredible holiday and in all of the years to come. we ask that of god. once again, melania and i wish to thank everybody for your

incredible courtesies and also wish you a happy thanksgiving, and now it's time for the moment of our guest of honor, they've been waiting and in this case he's been waiting for this, and bring them out. look at that beautiful, beautiful bird. oh, so lucky. that is a lucky bird. >> corn, i hereby grant you a full pardon. thank you, corn. [ applause ]

>> beautiful. >> happy thanksgiving to everybody. thank you very much. [ applause ] thank you. ♪ all right. corn the turkey there, i have to say, doing an exemplary job during this light-hearted tradition of pardons. a gobble there exact appropriate time. seen many turkey pardons. that turkey outdid himself. of course, this is all coming at a very serious time and comes amid questions about what else the president will do with his pardon power in the final days of his presidency. talk about this now with our cnn senior legal analyst laura coates and former federal and state prosecutory elie honig and

jim acosta joining us from this rose garden event. first to you, jim, if i could. this is, look, actually one of my favorite events when it comes to the white house. very cute, but whenever you have this during a lame duck presidency hawaii significant meaning in a way, because of the fact that pardons will be coming and when it comes to this president it is, it has more meaning than i'd say other presidents. so you know what are you expecting here in the coming weeks? >> well, brianna, we got a preview what we'll see in the coming weeks out of this traditional thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremony in the rose garden of the white house. you heard the president talk about the dow jones hitting 30,000. did it again at the briefing room and a few minutes ago, onset of the ceremony and at one point referred to the

coronavirus as the china virus. almost sounding like he's back on the campaign trail even though he's lost this election and is now the yot going president. even a dig at the former defense secretary james mattis, said in recent days the incoming biden administration to abandon the so-called america first strategy that the president, president trump has had during his four years in office. you heard the president just a few moments ago saying that, repeating his preference for an american first strategy. the president sounds as though he wants to get his digs in. wants to keep campaigning as if the election didn't happen. but the other thing that is worth noting, brianna, seen it time and again since the november election. that is, this is a president who does not want to take questions from the press. had a very brief appearance in the briefing roomerer, a minute long. 64 seconds long. came in, touted the stock market and left without taking

questions. similar to what we see here this afternoon. did the traditional turkey pardon walked out without taking any questions's we should note the press is kept all the way in the back of the rose garden. not much of a chance to have that opportunity. the other thing to quickly point out, brianna. this was one of the rare opportunities to see members of the first family out here, both ivanka trump and jared kushner were out here with their kids. as the president was delivering these remarks. also saw members of the white house staff. these are folks we have not seen very much of over these last three weeks. they have been hunkering down behind closed doors not making many appearances in front of cameras. seeing the white house out in force at this rose garden ceremonies they afternoon. no question about it. this was just another one of those episodes where the president is just sounding bizarre. talking about the china virus, talking about america first. you know, at

pardoning the thanksgiving turkey here at the white house. >> odd and coming on the heels of his talking about the dow earlier. it can't escape attention the dow also broke a key threshold right after the trump administration finally after weeks of obstruction decided to formally accept that joe biden had won the election, and so that's really the basis for these appearances of the president today. we're seeing him, jim, for the first time where, you know, the ruse is up. his legal challenges have foreclosed opportunity for him on that front. and now his administration is basically admitting reality, and he is truly a lame duck president here at this event that we just saw. >> reporter: that's right. he is the lame duck. pardoning the thanksgiving turkey. i tried to ask him as walking out of here whether he plans on issues other pardons before leaving office. that's the one thing we have to

take note of in the coming weeks. we've moved beyond the stage of the president trying to sabotage the election results. now i think the public will have to be watching closely, watching closely whether the president will attempt to sabotage the next administration is something obviously we'll all look for in the coming weeks. the president is nursing wounds here. no question about it. this is a president who likes to dish it back and forth with reporters. just showing no appetite for that these days because he knows what questions will be asked. why haven't you formally conceded and so on. at a point he wants the coverage and attention but not the scrutiny that comes with it. >> that's right. jim acosta, thank you. i want to talk now with laura coates and elie honig, this brings up questions. a fun light-hearted event. turkey pardon. one with look forward to every year. there are questions how, laura, the president is going to wield this power he has, a power he

has always been very fascinated with. and that it's controversial for any president to use it but particularly so with this president. what are you expecting? >> i expect corn and cob will not be the last people this president actually pardons. although he has been talking about it in this light-hearted tongue and cheek way, we can expect there are a number of familiar names you'll hear about that potentially could be pardoned by this president. already pardoned people, by the way, throughout his administration like sheriff joe arpaio and the likes of others. look for people like michael flynn. perhaps paul manafort. commuted the sentence already of roger stone. rudy guiliani may be somebody as well. areas of preemptive pardons. preemptive pardons or those after convictions or guilty pleas. a combination he could actually use, because, of course, you can pardon anyone for contact that occurred, whether pardon himself

for some reason, that's kind of uncharted territory. could be explored at the supreme court. most certainly could try to pardon people at the trump organization, his own family members and like jim acosta referenced, no one could have a single question about it. >> yeah. elie, our reporting shows he's expressed fascination about pardoning himself. about pardoning those around him who may potentially face scrutiny or have faced scrutiny but the conclusion of which is unclear. what about that? >> reporter: yeah, rebthe quest whether the president can pardon himself, file that under things we don't know for sure because nobody ever tried it in our history. the president said he tweeted before he believes he has an absolute right to pardon himself. people who support that, look at the constitution. no specific limitation, just that the president shall have

power to pardon. the other side of the argument, framers abhor, disliked self-dealing. ultimate form of self-dealing. cannot be a judge in your own case. the justice department looked at this question of self-pardons back in 1974 concluded that a president could not pardon himself. what i think is telling even rudy guiliani just a couple years ago said that a presidential self-pardon would be unthinkable and would trigger an almost automatic impeachment. i think when rudy guiliani is telling you that's too corrupt, that's too far, i think there's a real message there. >> rudy guiliani, though, will say the opposite things at different times, too. just have to be clear about that. okay. laura, worth noting that the president, like we said, he has faced scrutiny, faces a number of lawsuits, defamation suits, a fraud investigation into the trump organization a civil tax side. a lawsuit from his own niece. so he is facing what is his exposure coming out of the white house? >> reporter: extensive for all

the lists you actually provided and even that's a partial list. remember, that doj memo everyone cites often times, impeachment hearings around it and leading up to the mueller report was all about a sitting president. once january 21st comes in around 12:00 essentially on january 20th, no longer sitting president and legal exposure. why the ideas of these pardoning power is important. only with respect to federal cases. remember, the pardon power while it might be good to be the king, so to speak and have that ability to do so has nothing to do with things happening in say a new york state. nothing to do with things around perhaps civil actions. a number of issues he needs to come to terms with and at that point in time no opportunity to the have serving at his pleasure at the helm of the department of justice. recently that case he was accused of sexual assault of a former reporter in a retail store in new york some years

ago. the doj tried to step in and intervene as if they were him to try to do away with the litigation. those opportunities will not be able to be afforded again. even then the court said, no. look for a whole host of things like scny, elie's former home as well and the former new york state attorney general fair from taxations to money issues and all at the state level. >> laura, elli, thank you to you both. laura, tuning in tonight hosting "cnn tonight" at 11:00 p.m. great to see you both. >> thanks. more on our breaking news now. president-elect joe biden introducing the first group of his cabinet picks. all made veiled references about the last four years. we'll have takeaways and what their plans are in the first 100 days. our adversaries aren't waiting.

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his cabinet picks, including secretary of state. his choice there, tony blinken, well known in diplomatic circles, he said today he's eager to lead the state department and that its civil servants keep the united states safe and prosperous. here's kylie atwood. >> reporter: joe biden's pick for secretary of state, tony blinken, has been part of his brain trust for almost 20 years. >> president-elect biden, having you as a mentor and friend has been the greatest privilege of my life. >> reporter: during the obama administration, he was in the room for major policy decisions. he served as the deputy national security adviser and the deputy secretary of state. blinken grew up in paris and new york. his world view formed by his stepfather who survived the

holocaust. and his blood father. he is a proponent of international cooperation. key qualities as the biden administration sets out to revive alliances. critics say those relationships were ignored and ransacked over the last four years by the trump administration. >> if we know our sacrifices at home, if we align around the world, that lets us act more effectively in certain challenges. >> reporter: the biden team says they will put america back at the table. >> as the president-elect said, we can't solve all the world's problems alone. we need to be working with other countries. we need their cooperation. we need their partnership. >> reporter: often critical of trump's america first foreign policy and of outgoing secretary of state mike pompeo in the face of president trump's effort to

smear members of the diplomatic corps. >> he can either stand up for the men and women of the state department, foreign service officers, civil servants, or frankly he should leave. >> reporter: the news of his selection welcomed by american diplomats and by former president obama. >> he's outstanding, smart, gracious, a skilled diplomat, well regarded around the world. >> reporter: blinken called the messages from friends and colleagues humbling. if confirmed, this is a mission i will take on with my full heart, he wrote on twitter. the 58-year-old father of two toddlers and guitar player who even has music on spotify has a playful side. at one point going on "sesame street" to discuss the intense challenges faced by refugees. >> one of the subjects we're going to talk about is something really important. refugees. >> oh, deputy blinken from the

state department! >> reporter: he put strict limits on the number of refugees coming into the u.s. a number that biden plans to raise dramatically. it's one of many foreign policy moves that blinken's state department would be tasked with implementing. blinken, who supported u.s. military action in syria and libya, has said the biden team will maintain a commitment to israeli security, but -- >> in terms of the amount of time and focus and energy and resources, we need to be thinking about how we allocate them to best match our interests, and again, i think that suggests more in the asia pacific, more in our own hemisphere and a sustained engagement in europe. >> reporter: determining how to handle china is seen as one of the biggest challenges facing biden's foreign policy team. >> what i will make china do is play by the international rules. >> reporter: blinken and biden

call china a competitor, and they also say the u.s. needs to work with china when interests overlap. the world is waiting to find out how blinken will make that work. now, brianna, blinken said that it would be an honor of a lifetime if confirmed to work beside the diplomats here at the state department, and president-elect joe biden reiterated he is one of his most trusted advisers. blinken also gave a little of his family history, talking about his family being refugees, folks who have come all across the world into the united states and a holocaust survivor, giving some moving details about his stepfather, who was the only holocaust survivor in his family after four years in concentration camps, rescued by a u.s. soldier. brianna? >> that was a very moving story. kylie, thank you very much, that report from the state department. the dow just reached 30,000 points for the first time ever. president trump taking credit for it after predicting a crash

if joe biden was elected. that clearly not happening. we'll have more on that ahead.

on the heels of good vaccine news amid president-elect biden's transition, the dow has reached an incredible high. the dow touching 30,000 for the first time in history, and christina lecci is here to talk about it. this is an incredible year with the pandemic and a struggling economy, but tell me what that number means because this is certainly not tantamount to the

community. >> reporter: no, it's not, it's completely disconnected from the economy, as you know, but what i'm hearing from my sources is they are envisioning some kind of return to normalcy because we are on the verge of getting emergency use authorization and distribution of that vaccine. but it's not just return to normal in terms of a pandemic, it's also a return to normal in washington, d.c. investors are seeing a peaceful transition of power take place. remember, that was a chief concern among many investors leading up to the election, and now they're seeing it take place. and while trump wants to take credit for this dow number, which is a ceremonial number more than anything else, while trump is wanting to take credit for that, it's happening in a week that he is on his way out and biden is naming his cabinet. it seems like investors are having a positive reaction to

some of those nominations, chiefly among them, foreign investors, is the chief secretary which biden nominated janet yellen for. in the recovery after a financial crisis, when you have these rallies, it does tend to go to the benefit of the wealthy, and democrats are concerned that as the stock market comes back to normal and there still is not a good economy from their standpoint, that we will continue to see a divide among the wealthiest americans and the ones with the lowest income. that needs to be something this incoming administration will address going forward, and hopefully that means fiscal raises going forward, brianna.

>> thank you for that, and our special coverage will continue with brooke baldwin. all right, we'll take it from here. good to be with you all. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. we begin today with the president-elect wasting zero time in the 57 days left of the transition process, introducing some of the first members of his cabinet, many of them with, as we heard, personal connections to the president-elect, highlighting their backgrounds, and detailing their critical missions ahead, including the nation's, of course, most pressing issue, a pandemic that continues to claim thousands of lives day after day. today the president-elect is more properly equipped to get the job done because, after weeks of delay, gsa administrator emily murphy finally and officially ascertained the election results, freeing up millions of dollars in resources and opening the doors for agencies to start cooperating with the transition. but president trump