hello and welcome to our viewers here, in the united states, and around the world. i'm paula newton. live, from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we will get straight to our top story, now. and this, in fact, has been a holiday season like we've never seen before. thanksgiving has come to a close here in most of the united

states. and with the coronavirus surging right across the country, we want to take a moment to think about the people directly affected. more than 1,200 americans died from covid-19 on thursday, alone. and more than 90,000 others spent the holiday away from their families, in hospital. it's the 17th-straight day of record hospitalizations. now, data from johns hopkins university shows cases are still on the rise in 13 u.s. states, and a reminder, they've plateaued in other states at very high levels. another 110,000 people were diagnosed with the virus in the past day. president-elect joe biden, meantime, spent the day making video calls to frontline workers, including nurses and firefighters, whom he praised as the heroes of this crisis. and he posted this message on social media. >> i know this isn't the way many of us hoped we'd spend our

holiday. we know that a small act of staying home is a gift to our fellow americans. yes, it's a personal sacrifice that each of our families can make, and should make to save somebody else's life. but it's, also, a shared sacrifice for the whole country. a statement of common purpose that says we care about one another, and we're all in this together. >> and we get more on the president-elect from cnn's mj lee. >> reporter: this thanksgiving was a challenging one for so many american families across the country, who couldn't travel. who couldn't get together with their relatives and family members. and do, sort of, their usual traditions that they would, typically, be doing. and, the same was the case for the president-elect and his family. joe biden has said that, in past years, his family has traveled out of state so that they can

have a big, extended-family gathering around this holiday. but instead, this week, they opted to stay back behind here, in delaware, and only get together with a couple of members of their family. and we heard biden talk, earlier this week in this national address, that he understands the sacrifices that a lot of people are making across the country. and he, also, wrote an op-ed for cnn.com, just a little part of which i want to read. he wrote like millions of americans, we are temporarily letting go of the traditions we can't do safely. it is not a small sacrifice. these moments with our loved ones. time that's lost can't be returned. yet, we know it's the price of protecting each other and one we don't pay alone. isolated in our own dining room and kitchens, scattered coast to coast, we are together. >> the president-elect saying that he really understands the

experience of looking around the dinner table, and seeing that there is an empty chair. obviously, in reference to how many families across america have lost loved ones because of this pandemic. and then, just a very urgent message from the president-elect as well, urging everybody to, please, act responsibly around the holiday season because he knows that we can get back to normal, soon. particularly, with vaccine distribution potentially being around the corner. so, this has been a pretty consistent message that we have heard from joe biden over the last couple of months. mj lee, cnn, rehoboth beach, delaware. >> so, president trump, meantime, held a video conference with members of the u.s. military, thanking them for their service and sacrifice. but then, he turned his attention to the election, and more false claims about fraud. cnn's kaitlan collins has more. >> the president has not taken a question, in over three weeks, since the day of the election. and he broke that streak on

thanksgiving. finally, taking questions from reporters after he held a call with members of the military. and as he spoke to us, he repeated his accusations of widespread fraud in the election. something his attorneys have been saying, without evidence, for weeks now. and the president really hammered it home. repeating it. talking about the secretaries of state in georgia. criticizing those officials there and other states. also, saying that if the elector electoral college certifies joe biden's win in a matter of weeks, as they are scheduled to do, he says that would be making a mistake. he also criticized that biden is moving ahead to transitioning with the presidency by picking people who are going to be in his cabinet. and he wouldn't say whether or not he is going to attend biden's inauguration, as, of course, is the precedent for past presidents, in january. he talked about whether or not he would concede. he would not say. despite being asked multiple times, the president would not say, yes, that he would.

>> it's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud. so, as to whether or not i can get this apparatus moving this quickly. because time isn't on our side. everything else is own our side. facts are on our side. this is a massive fraud. this should never take place in this country. we're like a third-world country. >> one thing he did say is he would leave the white house. he said, of course, i would, should push come to shove. as there have been theories about whether or not he would actually leave the white house. he is going to be leaving the white house on saturday, he says, to campaign in georgia ahead of that race to determine which party controls the senate. it's just really notable. i can't stress enough. the president has had such a quiet period in his presidency, where he has not taken questions. and of course, now, after three weeks, he broke that streak. and we will see if that continues with -- with these baseless allegations about fraud. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house.

>> cnn senior political analyst, ron brownstein joins me now. he is also senior editor of "the atlantic." okay, ron. we don't really need to fact check this. there were no facts in there. they were just outright lies. and yet, there is a method to his madness, is there not? i mean, what is he trying to get at here? >> without any evidence the election was stolen for him and that has several implications. one, it increases his leverage within the republican party. he can walk away on january 20th and instead of republicans feeling he led them into electoral disaster where he will lose by, what, close to 7 million votes. in the end, he can argue, i didn't really lose. it was stolen from me. it was just a theft by democrats. and secondly, he is obviously making it tougher for joe biden to get a second look any kind of

honeymoon among rank-and-file voters, trump convincing them the election is stolen, which in turn will make it harder for biden to leverage republicans in congress to work with him on almost anything. >> he is going to step into this runoff in georgia with those two senate seats. a reminder that this is really going to set the stage for what the future of the next congress will look like because republicans either win back the balance of power or they end up in a virtual tie. all that is at stake, he will go in there and do what, you think? because he seems pretty serious about going to georgia this weekend. >> that's the thing. he will rally the republican base. that is donald trump's superpower. his ability to turn out more college and more non-urban voters than anyone expected, again, after methodology from 2016 to 2020, he still turned out more voters than last time.

but he is obviously a very polarizing figure. when bill clinton won with a low-vote total in a three-way race. really, have to go back for a democrat to win the way joe biden did. in the past, democrats have had trouble getting out in georgia. which make it tough for candidates favored by minority voters to win. this feels more like a battle of the bulge. >> everyone knowing what is at stake. just the president continue to come here, even given the loss in georgia, is going to be an extraordinary weekend if it ends up happening. i want to talk, a little bit, ron. except, there was an editorial by the president-elect biden and the -- and his wife, incoming first lady, jill biden.

we are grateful for the faith and trust we have been given to serve this beautiful, complicated nation. you know, the contrast is real. but, given the fact that donald trump seems to be determined to insinuate -- to basically, make his take in the politics of the nation, what do you think going to be the hurdle for joe biden? because he's taken a very clear road here. he is saying i'm going to rise above this. is donald trump going to make that difficult? >> donald trump will make that difficult -- difficult. i mean, joe biden is betting that there is a majority of the country that wants to lower the temperature. that understands that, even if we disagree, none of us are going away. the evangelical south is not going away. and brooklyn and berkeley are not going away. and he is betting there are enough americans who have been kind of terrified, horrified, by the level of acrimony they have seen in really kind of every

dimension. racial acrimony and they want to lower the temperature. it's not guaranteed that there is, in fact, a kind of a sustainable majority that wants to pull back from this. the first president who thought widening america's divide was in his interest, and he has convinced a big section of the country that they have been victimized by their fellow americans. kind of diverse, cosmopolitan, metro america. so, whether biden can reach that curtain, especially given how much of that audience has retreated underneath kind of a dome of conservative-solely-news information sources. we don't know. but that is what biden is betting and he is going to go quite a bit down that road, i think, before he gives it up. >> so much depends how much he can get done with either this lame-duck congress or what happens afterwards. ron brownstein, thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. happy thanksgiving.

>> so, the coronavirus pandemic in the united states could, soon, go from bad to worse. hospitalizations are at an all-time high. and health experts fear thanksgiving gatherings could, of course, fuel another, big surge. stay with us for more. some hot cocoa? mom, look! are you okay? head home this holiday with the one you love. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedes-benz winter event.

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so, millions of americans ignored warnings not to travel over thanksgiving, while coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have been soaring. and now, health experts are worried about what comes next. cnn's alexandra field reports. >> let's have a parade! >> reporter: a thanksgiving like no other. the annual macy's thanksgiving-day parade made for tv, only, on a closed set. families across the country are being encouraged to get together on screen, only. >> i did my phone calls last night to friends who i heard were going to travel. and i pleaded with them. please, stay home. be safe so that you can enjoy your loved ones in the future. i don't want anyone to experience what my family has gone through, and what my sister is still going through in her --

her fight to recover. >> reporter: last week, the cdc advised people not to travel for the holiday. since then, 5.9 million people boarded a plane. the cdc now projects that, by december 19th, america will have suffered between 294,000 to 321,000 deaths. >> what we're seeing is the entire mid-section of the country screaming high levels. and unfortunately, now, 2,000 deaths per day is going to be the new normal. we'll probably head to 3,000 deaths per day. >> reporter: deaths are now at levels unseen since may. hospitalizations, smashing records, every day. in red-hot texas, there's a rash of new restrictions in places like el paso and san antonio. along with the deployment of the national guard and 1,500 medical professionals. california is coming closer and closer to the full-blown stay-at-home orders of last march. pennsylvania banned bars from

serving alcohol on one of the biggest party nights of the year, the night before thanksgiving, despite some pushback. >> so, there's a lot of oppression on one industry and one industry, alone. and it seems to be the bar and restaurant industry. >> reporter: so, for those who are going to gather today, this advice. >> try to layer on everything you can to keep your family members and all of their friends and family safe. so, lots of mask wearing. keeping gatherings short. keeping ventilation good, with windows open. >> reporter: this year, there may be fewer turkeys on tables across the country. >> the pandemic has -- has led to what we think is the greatest, domestic hunger crisis in our country in nearly a century. >> reporter: and this year, there are too many families in mourning. too many, clinging, desperately, to hope. and some, celebrating answered prayers. >> amazing, especially on a day to give thanks. >> reporter: another precious life saved by health care

heroes. once, wildly cheered for their bravery and their sacrifice. heroes we still do more for this thanksgiving day. >> stay home. >> in new york, alexandra field, cnn. >> joining me now, assistant professor in emergency medicine at mount sinai, doctor, thanks so much for joining us. listen. the united states took a pause for a holiday. we all know covid took a pause for no one. on the front lines, what is going on, day to day, here? and is it real, in terms of the crisis that so many people have been talking about now? >> paula, it is so real. you know, i'm sitting here, in new york city. one of the few spots that first felt the initial outbreak of covid-19. and we are starting to see a slow rise in cases. but, what's happening in new york city is very different than what's happening across a lot of the country.

we are seeing that, in even the most rural parts of america, people are not safe outside of their homes, talking to people without masks on, and keeping less than six feet apart. and during a festive holiday, like thanksgiving, which is the one opportunity we have throughout the year to be with our family and our close friends, to celebrate. especially, after such a tiring year. it is a real test of maturity and, also, of safety. to see whether or not we are able to keep our distance, continue to wear masks, because we are so close. given the vaccine candidates and where things are headed. >> yeah, we are so close. all of us are. and yet, how long do you think we will know -- will it be, before we know, exactly, the impact of this holiday on the numbers in the united states? >> it's very tough to tell, and that's a great question. generally speaking, two to eight a weeks is the timeframe, from when we start to see what

exposures are looking like. so, what we -- what happens today may not come to fruition for at least two weeks from now, at minimum. so, that makes it especially challenging, being able to monitor and control and figure out what is working and what's not working. we all know that 14 days is the average-incubation period. so, that's why it's so tough to track. >> you know, this issue about what's working, what's not working. it's been so confusing, and one of the reasons that it's been so difficult for people to follow instruction. if we contrast, even the united states with europe, it seemed that europe was being so much more careful. and yet, they still went through a tremendous spike. and now, they have lockdowns. what have we learned? have we solved any mysteries about this virus right now, in terms of how it's transmitted? >> well, we are still learning a lot about the virus. what we are learning, especially now, more than ever, are the long-term effects. what happens after you get

hospitalized? what do you come home with? what happens when you are four or five or eight or nine months after your first hospitalization. i can tell you, i've had patients come into the emergency room, where they still feel like they can't run that marathon. they can't even walk up the stairs at home, and these are young adults who had a severe hospitalization. there was even an article in "the new york times," the other day, that many people across the country are requiring long-term rehab and therapy. and, what's so tough is that we don't have a perfect regiment in place anywhere in the world, currently, that can fix hospitalizations, and help cure us of the disease. so, we have to continue to work hard at finding a long-term solution. >> yeah, and that long-term solution will be, hopefully, a vaccine, at this point. we had news, unfortunately, from astrazeneca and oxford.

there seemed to be some confusion. some would say it was an error in the clinical trials and the dose that people received. do you think, from when you saw the information, do you think it is of major concern? and are you worried that it will impact the confidence that people will have in the vaccines? >> so, i think we all have to keep in mind where we are with the three vaccine candidates. and we are all in a rush for time. we would love immediate results. we want to see the data. but what's challenging is the data that was released by astrazeneca, just like pfizer and moderna, has only been released in the form of a press report. it has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal and we badly need that. it is true that the astrazeneca data, preliminarily, raises a few eyebrows. why is it that if you provide two normal doses of the vaccine, the efficacy is less than when you receive only a half dose, followed by a full dose? but there are some, possible

advantages with the astrazeneca. it can be refrigerated in normal-fridge temperatures. it is arguably, less, i'm told than other vaccine candidates. and the company mentioned they would be selling it without -- without a profit involved, at least for the duration of the pandemic. so, i would caution your viewers to just take a deep breath. let's see what the data shows, once it gets released in a peer-reviewed journal. and then, we will take it from there. >> doctor, so we will definitely wait for those journal articles and that all-important peer review. there for us in new york, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> for the second day, in a row, south korea has now recorded more than 500 new coronavirus cases. those are the highest numbers the country has recorded since march. paula hancocks joins us, live, now, from seoul. you've been following the numbers very closely. it must be unsettling, at this point. >> absolutely.

paula, and what we're hearing is health officials really strengthening what they are saying, at this point. in a briefing today, we heard a health official saying that he is calling on all south koreans to cancel meetings and stay at home. pointing that meeting with friends and relatives are particularly risky. not just because of numbers increasing but, also, because, within a week, there were going to be almost half a million students sitting nationwide college-entrance exam here in south korea. even those who are infected with coronavirus will be able to take the exam. they will take it in hospital, with teachers moderating in full ppe. now, i just spoke exclusively to the education minister and asked whether or not she was confident this could go ahead. >> translator: on april 15th, we held a general election during the pandemic. we've shown that we can do this. teachers and students have long been accustomed to taking extra safety measures. >> now, to put this into context, the national college

entrance exam here is something quite spectacular, even in normal years. they actually suspend flights to make sure that students aren't disturbed during part of the test. they make sure the stock market opens an hour later, and all businesses open an hour later so that students aren't caught up in any kind of rush-hour traffic. so, they are determined to go ahead with this. and as the education minister said, she believes that they can do it because they have done the election. but she, also, pointed out that she is nervous, every single day. that this could actually increase the cases. and certainly, with these numbers increasing, at this point, with the prime minister also saying that we do appear to be going through somewhat of a resurgence, it is certainly a nerve-racking time for those students. paula. >> extraordinary. paula hancocks for us, live, in seoul. appreciate it. just ahead on cnn "newsroom." donald trump answers reporters' questions for the first time since the election. but he's still rejecting a very

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okay. so, we told you earlier about president donald trump's impromptu news conference at the white house. he made outlandish claims about election fraud, already rejected by the courts because they're not supported by any evidence, whatsoever. now, his answers to reporters' questions were so deceitful, we believe it's important, nonetheless, for you to see it, unedited, in its entirety. take a listen. >> mr. president, do you have any big plans for your last thanksgiving at the white house? >> well, we don't know what is last. if you look at what's going on, we have to take a look at what's going on. they are finding tremendous discrepancies in the votes, and nobody believes those numbers.

those numbers are incorrect numbers. a lot of numbers have already been reported that's incorrect. you're going to see things happening, over the next week or two, that are going to be shocking to people. if you look at the numbers in michigan, if you look at numbers in pennsylvania. if you look at fraudulent voting and fraudulent votes. so, i can't say what's first and what's last in terms of is this the last one? or is this the first one of a second term? we'll see what happens. nobody wants to see the kind of fraud that this election has -- has really come to represent. we are looking at things that are so bad, in georgia, they don't want to show us signatures. the reason they don't want to show us signatures is very simple, because we will find thousands and -- it's a very close race, it's hair thin -- but we'll find thousands and thousands of discrepancies, fraud. why they aren't wanting to show those signatures is amazing. they're doing recounts, and even

in the recount, they found thousands of votes that were off. but now, we want to look at the signatures. and you will find tens of thousands of false ballots, forged ballots, you'll see it all over. you are going to see a lot of it. and you go to pennsylvania. you saw the meeting we had yesterday with pennsylvania. you saw people come up and they went to vote and they said, no, you can't vote. somebody else already sent in a ballot. and a woman -- but this is happening, tens of thousands of times. i think it was 600-and-some-odd thousand, 680,000 fraudulent votes cast in pennsylvania. and i will tell you, if you look at the statehouse now, the republican statehouse, but they've really known it for a long time. then, you go to michigan and you look at what happened with wayne county and detroit. and you see it.

72%, 78%, going through the list. then, you get to wayne and something happened. tremendous numbers. you saw the canvassers. they refused to sign their document because they said we can't sign a fraudulent document. horrible things went on. but that's in wayne county, detroit. i won almost all of them, except detroit was so egregious, it was phony. look at what's going on in wisconsin. wisconsin, they're finding tremendous discrepancy. you just take a look at that. tremendous discrepancy. and elsewhere. so, we're going to see what happens but you can't have somebody assume office, and, already, they want to get rid of america first. they don't want america first. you know why? because china doesn't want it. china expressed their wish. please, get rid of america first. and the biden administration said, oh, that's okay.

we'll get rid of america first. no, we don't want to get rid of america first. we want to put america first, and other countries should put themselves, too. and i tell them that all the time. but we don't want to get rid of it. so, i don't know what is going to happen. i know one thing. joe biden did not get 80 million votes. and i got 74 million but there were many ballots thrown away so i got much more than that. but i got 74 million. 74 million is 11 million more than i got last time. it's millions more than ronald reagan got when he won all -- he won 49 states. i guess, he won 49 states, yes. and it's -- it's millions more. millions more than hillary clinton got. joe biden did not get -- and, by the way, joe biden did not beat barack obama with the black vote. didn't beat him. okay? but, they have him as beating him. and, if you look at the numbers, the numbers are false. the numbers are corrupt. it was a rigged election, 100%.

and people know it. that's why you have people marching all over the united states, right now. they know it was a rigged election. and look at what's happening in georgia. lot of things are being found in georgia, and they are absolutely against showing. i mean, it's a sad thing. they don't want to show signatures. it can be solved if you show signatures but you're going to find the people that signed aren't the people that are supposed to be signing. you are going to find that the people that signed those envelopes, they didn't do the ballots, envelopes. and then, somebody said maybe the envelopes were thrown out. there's tremendous fraud here. if you look -- wait, just one second -- if you look at 10:00 in the evening, you saw what happened. then, you have these massive dumps. no one's ever seen anything like it. you have dominion, which is very, very suspect, to start off with. no one knows the ownership. people say the votes are counted in foreign countries and much worse than that, by the way, with dominion.

so, you know, dominion is also partially based in canada but it's based in other countries, too. but, you know, canada refuses to use dominion. canada uses paper ballots. so, think of it. they're based in canada and canada refuses to use them. they're smart. they use paper ballots because paper ballots are the only thing -- frankly, the only thing that really, you're going to get an accurate tab on because those machines are fixed. they're rigged. you can press trump, and the vote goes to biden. all you have to do is play with a chip and it's down -- it's shown all the time. all you have to do is play with the chip and they played with the chip. especially, in wayne county and detroit, you take a look. in philadelphia, you take a look. we've had excellent meetings with senators from pennsylvania, republican senators, and others. and they're saying th -- they know it was dishonest but they didn't know it was this

dishonest. you'll see it all, so we'll see. speaking of georgia, i'll be going there. >> when? >> i spoke with the two great senators. they're great senators. kelly and david. i'll probably be going on saturday. we're looking for a site. we're going to have a tremendous turnout. we seem to always have a good turnout. the people are very disappointed that we were robbed. we were robbed. i won that by hundreds of thousands of votes. everybody knows it. you go down the streets, there are trump-pence signs all over the place, and we won that by hundreds of thousands, georgia. so, they're disappointed. i don't want them to be disappointed. that'll solve itself. once we get to signature, 100%, we will take over georgia and we will get georgia but they have to show us the signature. stacey abrams pulled the wool over the secretary of state -- i don't know who he is -- but the secretary of state. it doesn't matter. you know, he says that, too.

but i never met him. all i know is that's the ultimate, i donated to trump, i like trump, i think trump is great. by the way, this guy got played like i've never seen anybody play -- tell them if he donated to trump, if he likes trump, let us see the signatures. why is he not letting us see? there's only one reason you can't see the signatures and that's because there is fraud all over the place. and by the way, always against me. it was not, like, 50-50. it was always against me. the other thing. take a look at michigan. take a look at what they did with respect to counties. every county, 78%, 72%, 76%, 59%. the whole thing. one after another after another. and then, you get to detroit and it's like more votes than people? dead people voting all over the

place. but, anyway, going back to georgia just for a second. so, i'll be going there on saturday night, and maybe i'll go twice. it's very important that we win those races. these are two great people. i know them both, very well. they're both great people and i think the two people -- you know, i beat the one gentleman. he ran against a congressional candidate who is an excellent person, frankly. and he didn't even live in the right community, and that's how he won. so now, i have to beat him again. he locket st as a congressman, s going for congress, against karen. and now -- and now, he's running against david. he doesn't deserve to be there. he is a lightweight. and the other one is either a communist or a socialist. i can't figure that one out, yet. but he is either a communist or a socialist. probably, a communist. this is not for georgia and i just want to tell my people, don't be disappointed, yet. because this race is far from over. but i'm going saturday night. i'll be in georgia.

we're going to have a tremendous crowd. they are looking for the right site. probably, we'd love to take one of the big stadiums but you can't because of the covid. so, we'll have an outdoor form of probably an airport. most likely, it's an airport. they're looking for the bigot base. a biggest base. and we'll have, you know, tens of thousands of people show up. and i may go a second time, depending on how it's doing. yeah. yeah. please, go ahead. >> mr. president, if the electoral college votes for joe biden on december 14th, will you concede the election? >> i -- i -- it's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud. so, as to whether or not i can get this apparatus moving this quickly, because time isn't on our side. everything else is on our side. facts are on our side. this was a massive fraud. this should never take place in this country. we're like a third-world country. we have machines that nobody knows what the hell they are

looking at. i mean, you take a look at all the mistakes they made. look at even georgia. look at all the mistakes they made and all that was a simple, you press the button. look at georgia. all the votes they found just by going -- and i said they shouldn't even do it because it doesn't mean anything. they are doing a recount, right now, in georgia that is meaningless. the only recount that matters in georgia is to look at the signatures on the envelope. and you will find that the signatures do not match the people that were -- many of them, hundreds of thousands of them, hundreds of thousands. i didn't lose. i don't like to say i lose. i only -- i guess we're 11 or 12,000 votes short. that's out of millions and millions of votes. they just got it over the line. and one of the things that happened. i -- i did so well, and i was told this in two other states, they didn't know what to do. they panicked. take a look at their drops at 3:00 in the morning at certain states. they did drops, where you're going along like this.

and then, you have a spike that goes up to the ceiling. it's disgraceful. we can't let that happen, and i will tell you, in philadelphia, the republicans that -- statehouse republicans are very, very upset and it's sort of appropriate because philadelphia's become very activist, if you look at what's going on. they don't want that to happen to pennsylvania, to the state of pennsylvania. and it was -- i don't -- i don't even like to use -- it was a rigged election. >> sir, just to be clear, if the electoral college votes for joe biden, will you concede? >> well, if they do, they made a mistake because this election was a fraud. just so you understand. this election was a fraud. i mean, they have biden beating obama and obama's vote in areas that mattered in terms of the election in swing states. and yet, he is losing to obama all over the place. but, he is's beating obama in sg

states, which is the states that matter for purposes of election. so, no, i can't say that at all. i -- i think it's a possibility. they're trying to -- look. between you people and -- don't -- don't talk to me that way. you're just -- you're just a lightweight. don't talk to -- i'm the president of the united states. don't ever talk to the president that way. all right. i'm going to go with another question. go ahead. >> so if the electoral college does elect president-elect joe biden, are you not going to leave this building? >> just so you -- oh, certainly, i will. certainly, i will and you know that. but i think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of january. a lot of things. massive fraud has been found. we're like a third-world country. we're using computer equipment that can be hacked. they talk about glitches. how many glitches did they find? so, a glitch. oh, gee, we had a glitch, 5,000 votes. in all cases, right, in all cases -- the glitches were never from biden to trump. so they had many glitches and

they said, oh, we had a glitch. oh glitch is like the equipment is a little broken, we'll fix it up. no. a glitch is, in this case, we caught them cheating. we caught them stealing. we caught a fraudulent effort to get votes. and they said, oh, yes, it's true, there was. but -- and there were many of them. but -- but here's the problem. there were probably 10, 20, 30 times that didn't get caught. we just got lucky and caught numerous of them. but what that is, is very simple. if you look at the glitch, the glitch means, right, it means, oh, we got caught. we got caught with the votes. and now, let's just call it a glitch. it wasn't the machinery. and by the way, the machinery, if you look -- just take a look anywhere on the internet. you will see many, many people where they're experimenting with this stupid machinery. where, if you set it a certain way, the votes go from trump to biden. if you look at these counties,

if you look at arizona, where i was going to win, very easily. i've had the biggest politicians in arizona say there was no way you lost arizona. there's no way i lost pennsylvania, with his anti-fuel and with his anti-fracking and all of the things that they stand against. there was no way. now, texas, you all said that i was going to lose texas by a lot. four points. i won texas by eight or nine points, right? i won it, very easily. in wisconsin, you all said i was going to lose or the polls said, certain polls, "washington post," abc, said i was going to lose by 17 points. i thought i was going to win it and, essentially, i did win it. it's very, very close. it's very, very close. and we're going to win -- by the way, in wisconsin, they have found massive discrepancy. just so you understand. massive discrepancy. but they said i was going to lose by 17 points and i won the state. okay? but, it's very close.

it shows very close, whether you say win or lose, it shows very close. but, when you look at the massive discrepancy that we'll be revealing, that's already been revealed. everybody knows it. they just don't want to -- between big tech and the fake-news media, you just put out, like, this little railroad train. no. i think it's not right that he is trying to pick a cabinet. but i can't imagine, whether it's courts or legislatures, if you're going to catch hundreds of thousands of false ballots. and i'm talking in each state. and just so you understand, many, many more votes that we're talking about that we need, you understand. i'm not saying we caught 23 dead people, but we were short 20,000 votes. no. no. we have tens of thousands votes more than we need, in all cases. okay? in all cases. so, i think you're going to see something. i mean, i think it's going to be a very big story. yeah, please. it's going to be, not only a big story, it's the most important story of our time.

yes? >> mr. president, if joe biden takes over the white house on january 21st, will you announce a candidacy for 2024? >> well, no, i don't want to talk about 2024, yet. because this -- this is far -- hey, look, look, look. i and the people that work in this are very professional and all of the stuff is coming. it's -- a lot of it came out, if you look at the philadelphia meeting. if you look at the pennsylvania meeting yesterday, a lot of it came out. this has a long way to go. this has a long way to go. you're going to find tremendous fraud. you are going to find fraud of hundreds of thousands of votes, per state. you are going to find fraud of many, many times the votes that i need. again, we're not talking about less votes where, you know, 20 votes, but it doesn't turn the election. no, we're talking about thousands and thousands of votes, beyond what we need, to turn a state. when you see that, i think it's

very hard, even for the media, to say that, you know, biden should win the state. and there's no way that biden got 80 million votes. by the way, the only way he got 80 million votes is through a massive fraud. there's no way that he got 80 million votes. >> present this evidence of voter fraud you talk about? >> well, it's happening now. we're in courts. we're in courts. but we are also in front of legislatures and we are doing very well in front of the states. >> mr. president, if you don't think that the presidential election was legitimate, that you think it was stolen, what confidence do you expect voters in georgia to have when they go to the polls to vote for, say, loeffler or perdue? >> well, i told them today, i think you are dealing in a very fraudulent system. i think i'm very worried about that. they are tremendous people. kelly loeffler. david perdue. are tremendous people. they should be in the united states senate. they're desperately needed but i told them, today, listen.

you have a fraudulent system. you have a system, with the flick of a switch or the putting in of a new chip, can change the course of history. and you have to be very careful. i read, this morning, where stacey abrams has 850,000 ballots accumulated. now, that's called harvesting. you're not allowed to harvest, but i understand the secretary of state, who is really -- he's an enemy of the people. the secretary of state. and whether he's republican or not. this man, what he's done, supposedly, he made a deal, and you'll have to check this, where she's allowed to harvest. but in other areas, they're not allowed. what kind of deal is that? they're not allowed to harvest during the presidential. but how can she say she has 850,000 ballots? that would mean that she's got 850,000 ballots for her. that that's not supposed to be happening. that's not an election. you know, an election should be a one-day deal. you walk in and you vote.

and if you can't do it. if, for some reason, you're not feeling well or there is a problem. but, what they did is they use covid in order to defraud the people of this country. country. and the whole world is watching, and the whole world is laughing at our electoral process. the whole world is watching, and it's a very sad thing. very sad thing. and you know what? i've done a lot of things. you just saw space force and you've seen the tax cuts and the regulation cuts and the way we've taken care of the vets and what we've done with anwar, alaska, and all the different things we've done, more than just about anybody's done, even though it's four years, there are those that say what i'm doing right snow the single most important thing i've ever done. and i think it may be true. it may be true. the vaccines -- and by the way, don't let joe biden take credit for the vaccines. joe biden failed with the swine flu, h1n1, totally failed with the swine flu. don't let them take credit for the vaccines.

the vaccines were me, and i've pushed people harder than they've ever been pushed before. we got that approved and through. and nobody's ever seen anything like it. and you've got a big resistance in the fda from years and years of people working there, from years and years from different administrations. the vaccines, those there are those who says one of the greatest things. it's a medical miracle. don't let anyone try and take credit for it. but of all of the things i've done, this could be the most important, because there has been voter fraud going on, but never at this scale. tens of millions of ballots have been sent out to people that didn't even want them. many people, and i know you've heard, many people have received two, three, and four ballots. and many people have taken those two, three, and four ballots, and they voted them. this election was a fraud. it was a rigged election. i mean, i hate to say it, but this was a rigged -- at the highest level, it was a rigged election.

so we have to figure it out. and yes, i think it's very dangerous for the two people that are running against two totally unqualified people. and i think it's very dangerous for our nation. and i'll go a step further. i said today other than the fact that you have all of the eyes and ears, but the media doesn't cover it properly, because the media would -- if they saw something wrong, i'm convinced the media would not report it. you have many things that are wrong and you don't report. but if the media was honest in this country, which for the most part, they're not, this would never have happened. this has taken place, this fraud has taken place. if the media were honest, this would never, ever have happened. but you have a big election coming up. you have a woman or somebody announced. 850,000 absentee ballots have already been collected. 850. and i told david perdue today and i told kelly yesterday, they're talking about having

collected already 800,000 ballots against you. you can't do that. you can't do that. what kind of a race is that? you can't allow that to happen. and i'm serious. if the media were honest and if big tech were honest, which it's totally not, it's a terrible thing, that whole section 230 is a disgrace that they even have it. but big tech is totally dishonest. if the media were honest and big tech was fair, this wouldn't even be a contest. and i would have won by a tremendous amount, a tremendous amount. and i did win by a tremendous amount. but it hasn't been reported yet. but people understand what's happened. they know what happened. >> you know that it's tradition for previous presidents to go to the next president's inauguration. so will you attend -- >> i don't want to say that yet. i mean, i know the answer. i'll be honest. i know the answer. but i just don't want to say it yet. look, a thing like this possibly has never happened before. but maybe people just didn't catch it. but we've caught it.

we've caught hundreds of thousands of votes. >> if i may, sir. >> excuse me, excuse me. >> if i may -- >> when they don't allow a poll watcher, which is a sacred person in our country. people don't know what a poll watcher is. a poll watcher is considered sacred in our country. when they throw them out of rooms. >> but that's not true. they didn't do that. >> sure it is. >> and when they put them in pens. >> your attorneys -- >> excuse me, i they did not. my attorneys did not admit anything. and it's all different places. but when they throw them out of accounting rooms, when they put them in pens, and they're 20, 30, 40 feet away and in some cases 200 feet away, when things like that happen, when a woman walks in on november 3rd to vote, a proud woman, and this is by the thousands, tens of thousands, and she said i'm here to vote. and they said you've already voted, ma'am, i'm sorry. no, i didn't vote. i want to vote on november 3rd. i want to cast my vote in person. i'm sorry, ma'am, you already voted.

you voted by ballot. and then they leave, this is a horrible thing. and we have tens of thousands of that happening. this is a horrible thing. they gave biden a lot of votes that he would never have gotten. this is not a candidate that could get 80 million votes. this is just not a candidate. this is not a candidate that beat barack hussein obama with the black voter. this is not a candidate that beat obama with the black voter. this is not a candidate that beat hillary clinton to a pulp. it just doesn't work that way. but when you look at the number, when you look at the data, and when you look at the things we have, we have affidavits from hundreds and hundreds of people. this election was a rigged election. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> so once again, none of what the president said about widespread election fraud or being cheated out of the

presidency is true, none of it. joe biden won the election, period. he will be the next president of the united states, inaugurated on january 20th, 2021. i am paula newton, and we will be right back with more "cnn newsroom" in just a moment. before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new? -well, audrey's expecting... -twins! grandparents! we want to put money aside for them, so...change in plans. alright, let's see what we can adjust. ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. okay. mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. lemme guess, change in plans? at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan.

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♪ hello and welcome. i'm paula newton live from cnn's world headquarters in atlanta. ahead this hour, nothing short of a public health failure. the u.s. may soon run out of hospital beds as coronavirus cases set new records. and health care workers say they are now pushed way beyond their limits. also -- >> it's going to be a very hard thing to concede. >> donald trump takes questions from reporters for the first time in three weeks. we'll take a look at the baseless claims he makes. and europe scrambles to try and control the pa