you are live in the cnn newsroom, and i'm jessica dean in washington tonight. we begin this evening with an election that seemingly won't end. the president on a tweet storm today alleging fraud and again

insisting against all evidence that he won states like pennsylvania. even though pennsylvania, of course, has certified joe biden is, in fact, the winner. and who ill the war from the white house may be lost, the battle for georgia is heating up. we know president trump will be in georgia next weekend to campaign for kelly loeffler and david purdue. we are learning vice president pence will go there as well. the stakes for republicans couldn't be higher. lose those two senate seats and they lose control of the senate and with it the ability to block the agenda of the new bind administration. after claiming the election in georgia was rigged, can the gop persuade voters to turn out when they need them the most? of course, all of this is happening who ill the coronavirus poke is growing worse and worse. for 26 straight day, nearly all of november, the u.s. has reported more than 100,000 new

cases a day. a day. we start now at the white house. cnn's jeremy dimon is there. president trump has yet to accept defeat. today he continues spreading these claims about the election. what is the latest you are hearing at the white house? >> reporter: well, the president has been doing what he has been doing over the past three-plus weeks, expressing widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. today he has focused on wisconsin and pennsylvania. but the president's claims now versus what they were three weeks ago, they now come against this backdrop of 30-plus cases that the president's campaign and their ally versus now lost or had to withdraw in state and federal courts in key battleground states in the country. eighth tally that is 81 mining the president's climbs about voter fraud and really bulking up the case for the fact there wasn't voter fraud. no judge in any of these state and federal cases so far has backed up the president's claim that the 2020 election was

rigged. rather, these cases have been thrown out of court, laughed out of court, according to some. the latest blow is coming from a trump appointed judge on the third circuit court of appeals base in pennsylvania. this is the ruling from judge beba who rejected the appeal and attempts to try to dessertfy the attempts in pennsylvania. he writes, calling an election unfair does not make it so. charges require specific allegations and then proof. we have neither here. the campaign's claims have no merits. again, this is the latest such stating our argument that you hear from judges in cases across the country. these courtroom defeats are now also being compounded by losses that the president and his team are facing as they try and get recounts to change the outcome of the election. the latest blow coming in the state of wisconsin, where the president again is baselessly allege fraud today. the president's campaign

requested and paid for a $3 million recount in two key counties in the states of wisconsin. the results came through in milwaukee county and joe biden's lead actually increased by 132 votes after that recount was completed. the state of wisconsin is set to certify that election come tuesday. >> thank you, very interesting to see there. you said that the claims have no merit. that's what that judge said. it really sticks out there thanks, so much. we will turn now to the pandemic and if you threats on the horizon thanks to the holidays. the very things we crave this time of year. like family gatherings, shopping for presents are exactly the kind of behaviors that helped spread this killer virus. we want to talk now with cnn medical analyst former baltimore health commissioner and dr. james philips, chief of medicine. thank you for spending saturday

night with us, you guys. dr. philips, where would you expect to see this first evidence, if, indeed, thanksgiving has become a super spreader event across the country. when do you think we will start seeing evidence of that? >> thanks for having me on. it's a matter of averages. so when we talk about the incubation period of this virus, it's important to think of it in a bell-shaped curve. we know the majority of people will be sick. 97% of people, if they will develop symptoms will develop them by day 12. but the median about more than half of people will develop symptoms by day five so what that means is that this monday, this tuesday when people return from the outpour tomorrow, if they have been at home a few days, they will start to have symptoms. give that a week. the following monday is when most people who will get sick will feel sick. on average, as an emergency physician, what we see is people come to hospital about day ten of their illness, it's when

their body will declare whether or not they will recover or require hospitalization and care. so i anticipate that week, the 15th to the 20 secretary when we will see that dramatic rise in hospitalizations. on average, people live anywhere from three days to three weeks in the hospital before they succumb to the disease if they're going to. so we're going to see a rise in deaths from thanksgiving continuing through christmas. >> oh, it's awful to think about it. on that note, thanksgiving weekend kicks off as we're saying weeks of celebrating. we got hanukkah, christmas, new years. that may be when we see these hospitalizations go up. do expectation versus to change how we are spending the holiday this is year? obviously, i know they did for thanksgiving. what advice are you offering people for the rest of the holiday season? >> you are right, expectations absolutely have to change. we just added 4 million new cases of covid-19 in november alone, which is double the number we added in october.

there is virus that is running rampant across the u.s. this is the time for us to really hunker down, not let our guard down, not congregate, gather indoor, even with loved once outside of our extended family. i real easy this is the opposite of what we would normally do over christmas, hasn't ka and the new year. we have to remember, we have vaccines on the horizon, things are going to look very different in the spring and summer. but we have to get through this year so my advice is can sell your holiday travel tirnths cancel all non-essential travel. things will be so much worse if december tan it is in november and the only way to cover it indoors to gather with your loved ones is if you quarantine for 14 days and get deficit. that's not going to be practical for most people. can sell your trip now knowing we can celebrate christmas, hanukk hanukkah, in july. >> we'll look ahead to 2020.

we'll talk a little bit about that vaccine. . on monday, a cdc committee is going to hold an emergency meeting to prioritize who will get that vaccine first? so how important is it for front line medical workers to be high on that list? and who else do you anticipate will be high up on that list? >> well, it's important that they meet. it's great to see the leadership at the federal level make these decisions so they can then trickle down to the state and local government officials as well so everybody is not trying to do this ad hoc. it's unusual and awkward from yet an emergency physician to say world wide it's been accepted for decade of pandemic planning that the front line healthcare workers will be the first to get vaccinated. when you remember, when we talk about surnls of patients into hospitals requires three things. space requires stuff. it requires staff. you can have all the hospital beds you want, if you don't have the nurses to take care of those patients, the healthy doctors to

make those plans, then you can't haveish in those beds. it is important they get this vaccine early. now, what we will see is an egg witable distribution to the most of allnerable populations. this will be the story, making sure we are not discriminating. getting to the places it's needed the most. the communities most impacted. people of color. while at the same time we are not discriminating against people with disabilities, of older age and things of that nature so there have been ethicists working on this for decade, more importantly in the last few months. i am looking forward to what the cdc guidelines are. >> it's an important and critical conversation they will be having. dr. wen, do you have trepidation about getting it early? it's different than early round of fda testing. do you have any apprehension about that at all?

>> well, we know the fda will have an external committee that is meeting to discuss the emergency use authorization december 10th. and i want to see what's the advice coming out of this committee is going to be. emergency use authorization is something given only in emergencies, which absolutely this pandemic s. it means we are expediting the process because there is a real consequence to waiting. we have more than a thousand soon to be more than 2,000 people dying a day because of covid-19. so we do need to expedite it. we also need to make sure it passes a pretty high barrier or high bar when it comes to safety and efficacy, because we are giving there to previously healthy individuals. i hope the fda will make all the data transparent, available to everyone to see. because ultimately the vaccines do not only need to be safe and effective. it need to be trusted. so i look forward to seeing the recommendations coming out of that committee.

>> dr. philips, any thoughts on getting the vaccine right away for yourself? >> if the data pans out, like it seems like it will. if the experts that are career professionals in the fda, cdc, nih, if they all come together including the independent panel and deem it safe, you can bet i'll be the first in line to take it if it's offered. >> all right. our thanks to both of you. have a great night, thanks so much. georgia is now the center of the political universe. president trump says he's headed to the state to campaign for two republican senators in runoff elections. but how will his false narrative of widespread fraud impact the race? and the balance of power in washington. you look smokin. total smokeshow. and they never did find his finger. they had to close the pool for like an hour. ♪ i brought a date. name's sam. dig in.

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joe biden's upset with inif georgia stunned the republican party. now the gop wants to make sure it maintains control of the senate by winning the two runoff races in georgia. the party's biggest opponent

there could be apathy and there is a worry that after weeks of hearing how the election was rigged that some republican voters will believe it and stay home. ryan nobles is in marietta. the president is headed to georgia soon as well as the vice president. first the republican party's point person held what became a bit of an erring of grievances today. >> yeah. jessica, republicans here are really downplaying this idea that president trump's most ardent supporters have lost confidence in the electoral process and won't show up on january 5th to vote in this very important runoff election. we keep running in instances, we are at republican events. you see these people voice their concerns about the electoral process. this event with ronna mcdannel took an awkward turn 20 minutes after she began her remarks from this question, she started fielding questions from people at the event. they were all about the election

in november, these supporters demanding she and the republican national committee do more to help president trump overturn the results not just across the country but specifically here in georgia. take a listen to what they have to say. >> it's not decided. this is the key. it's not decided. if you lose your faith and you don't vote and people walk away, that will decide it. so we have to work hard, trust us, we're fighting. we're looking at every legal avenue. >> for now, because people are losing here. >> so if you heard what that woman said, she said to ronna mcdaniel, why should we even vote if the outcome has been decide? this is an exam of how there are a number of voters here who have lost confidence in this system because president trump has routinely said over and over against the election ras rigged. in fact, they've lost confidence in the republican leaders who

ran this election. brian kevin, who is the governor of georgia. he is a very passionate supporter of president trump. there is someone in the audience who called him a crook. j es car, it demonstrates this tight rope that these republican candidates are walking. they can't alienate the trump supporters. they're the base of the party. they need them to come out and vote. at the same time, they need to remind them of what's at stake in january. the republicans need to win one of these seats if they hope to maintain their majority in washington. it will be their last bathion of p bassion of power and the democratic party having a vote here. programs president trump's visit here a week from today will help demonstrate that he wants people to vote for these candidates. right now, there seems to be a lot of uncertainty. >> it will be interesting to see the talks about the election being rigged.

we saw chairman mcdaniel talking, did she seem to break through at all? >> reporter: you know, i will say this. she did seem to convince at least this group that we were with about the importance of getting out and voting for david purdue and kelly loeffler. she did a good job of convincing the group it was important. the question is how far is this doubt? how far has it seeped into the general republican votership? that's something that's difficult to quantify right now. republicans i talked to believe firmly at the end of the day, republicans will come around and do what is necessary to get these candidates over the finish line. traditionally, republicans have faired better in these runoff elections. if it was as close as it was in the general election. they will not be able to take any vote for granted. it shows how much difficult and more work they will have. >> ryan nobles in georgia

tonight. thanks, so much. with me now valerie jarrett, the former senior adviser to barack obama and also the best selling author of finding my voice, my journey to the west wing and the path forward. it's wonderful to have you on tonight. it's interesting. democrats may be eagerly watching the gop asitative try to convention voters they need to take this runoff seriously after the president's claims of election fraud. i am curious if you think the democrats are at risk of seeing too many own voters staying home because the presidential race has already been decided there? >> good evening, jessica. no, i don't think so. there is a lot of energy on the ground in georgia. people like stacey abrams has been organizing for months to get people registered to vote and turn out to vote. i think the democrats are focused on began. . the national attention is on it. the spotlight is on it. i think the democrats will turn out to vote. i will say i think the republican strategy is

backfiring. and it also, though, more importantly, is trying to undermine the integrity of our elections. everyone across the country has said who is in official capacity says the election was fair and honest and we've had one lawsuit after another being thrown out. my focus and i think i am hoping the american people's focus is, what can we do to support >> gabe: i'd? what can we do for this coronavirus? we build our economy stronger, make sure america is safe. we have real challenges ahead. i think it's time to focus on that i am hopeful the democrats will win both those seats in georgia. if it is any indication, we have to close storm. >> you mentioned stacy abram's efforts there. a lot of people credit her for turning georgia blue in this cycle. how much of an impact that will have and joe biden going down there will have? we know his chief of staff

expects to see biden down there before these runoff elections. >> well, look joe biden won georgia the first time in decades that a democrat won the state. i think a lot of that credit goes to people like stacy and many organizations that have been working since the gubernatorial election a couple years ago. so the foundation is there. now the key is turnout. i think there is a lot of energies as i said earlier, it's going to build towards a high turnout. i think if that's the case campaigning down there is nothing but a positive. >> i want to ask you, too, about former president obama, the biden campaign sent him into georgia the day before election day. he was their top surrogate down there. he's tweeted about the georgia runoffs, do you anticipate he gets back on the campaign trail for these two democrats down in georgia? >> i don't have anything to announce for you tonight about

his travel plans, but i know he is watching it very closely. because he knows what it's like to have a congress. he knows how important it will be for joe biden to have a strong house and a senate that's prepared to move forward legislation that benefits the american people and he's experienced what it's like with mcconnell and his unwillingness to work with anyone in the white house. it's the democrats that move the agenda. it's an important race for the party and the country. we will tackle the big challenges that lie ahead. >> right. joyed has talked a lot about coming together, about a bipartisan atmosphere he hopes to rebuild here in washington. he wants to work with republicans. the former gop house speaker paul ryan says if the republicans within these two senate seats, it will be good because it will force this bipartisanship. what do you make of this idea? do you think that's true?

>> no, i don't, actually, it wasn't the case when president obama was in office. we had hoped once the republicans were in the house and then the senate that they, the leadership position and consider it their responsibility to look out for the american people and move forward with a bipartisan agenda. that was not the experience. now we're in a different time, a different climate. joe biden made it clear based on the long relationships that he has developed in the senate that he's going to call them in to work with him. i am hope whack is different this time is that the american people are sick and tired of this kind of locker4eggerheads washington. we are seeing food lines, people are lined up around the block trying to provide for their families and congress controls the senate by republicans have not moved forward to provide the relief pack that we saw necessary. i know that's something that's

really important to joe biden to make sure that we are helping those family who's are struggling. that's not happening under the current leadership and senate. even though the house passed it way back in may. >> thanks for being with us on this saturday night. >> you are welcome. stay safe, the holidays are already a hard time for families facing economic hardships. but the coronavirus pandemic raging across the country right now is making it so much worse. now one estimate says close to 50 million americans could go hungry by the end of the year. ♪ you can go your own way

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the devastating economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic millions of americans relying on food banks this thanksgiving. by one estimate, 50 million americans will go hungry this year and as cnn reports, it will take 8 billion meals to feed them. >> reporter: the journey to get food, through the cold and covid-19 has been long and hard. >> you got to take it one day at a time and as long as you have for today, you save for tomorrow. when foreman get here, something is going to happen. >> reporter: and it did. just in time. >> thank you! >> no problem. >> reporter: days before thanksgiving, back at the house foundation, a local food pantry in the bronx, new york, made a special thanksgiving delivery, filled with everything she need for her and her two teenage daughters. >> is this a relief that i don't

have to purchase all of that? >> reporter: over 50 million americans won't have enough to eat in 2020, in part, because of the pandemic. feeding america, the largest hunger relief group in the u.s. projects that 8 billion meals will be needed in the next year to feed food insecure mernts. >> about 40% of the people who right now are turning to food banks for help around the country are people who never before relied upon the charitable food system. >> onions. >> reporter: she is out of a job. her car was totaled months ago. she is not receiving unemployment. she now relies on a once-a-week delivery from the food pantry. >> day-to-day, is your pantry stocked or what does it look like? >> just surviving. that's all i have to say. you have to survive it. >> reporter: the 15th congressional district here in the bronx has the highest food security rate among children in the country. back at the house, they're

hoping to take the stigma out of needing a little extra help. >> we have to look and try to imagine ourselves in the position what we would want for ourselves, not just to give them a cardboard box, but to make them feel loved, special. >> reporter: this small operation says it's seen a 100% increase in need. >> even with the little they get, hopefully, it's someone in their building or neighbors that they can invite for a plate of food. >> yeah, got to get miss mainly her stuff. >> despite the struggles to put food on the trouble table. she is sharing what she has with her neighbor and remains thankful. >> even if we didn't get out of the house or we were just having regular chicken every day, just to say that you was alive to eat it, that's a blessing in itself. >> reporter: cnn, bronx, new york. >> all right, vanessa, thanks so

much. we're going to talk more about the new reality that's facing so many americans with former democratic presidential candidate andrew yang. that's coming up in our 7:00 hour. meantime, president trump is teasing, he may not attend joe biden's inauguration. this as there are reports he is privately considering a run for the white house in 2024. we will discuss all that next. you're strong. you power through chronic migraine-15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine.

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when joe biden is inaugurated on jean 20th, will donald trump be there? we are toll his advisers will strongly encourage him to attend, but there is suspectlation trump may skip that ceremony to watch a rumor 2024 run instead. here to make light of this is doug brinkley. we need context around all of this. first of all, how big of a deal would it be if president trump didn't attend joe biden's

inauguration? >> well, it would be the fourth time in u.s. history a president wasn't part of that transition. in 1801 john adams refused to go with just elected thomas jefferson. it was a brutal election in 1,800 and you had an 1829 john quincy adams refusing. then andrew johnson in 1869. after all he had been impeached. so trump would be the fourth u.s. president. but the first in 152 years not to do it. >> what sort of a message do you think that sends to americans? >> it's not a good one. i think the transit should be peaceful and show that our democratic process works. i can write a book on some of the beautiful transitions, jimmy carter and gerald ford and they bonded that particular day when carter took over the white house from ford and they became closest of friend. look at bill clinton and george

herbert walker bush, same thing. it's an opportunity to show the americans symbolically our democracy and constitution comes first and our egos and political parties second. but president trump is in a chaotic and intransigent mode. he is refusing to accept the election results. i'm afraid i wouldn't be surprised if he is a no show for the inaugural. >> this week, president trump said he would leave office if the electoral college confirm's biden's victory. then he backtracked from that. what happens if he doesn't leave the white house? is that a crazy thought or something to be considered? and if that does happen, what next? >> reporter: you know, the great novelist herman maldo wrote a book which a character refuses to leave a job after he's told the leave. keeps saying, i prefer not to. i prefer not to that's what

trump is saying, i prefer not to leave. well, it's not up to you. it is up to the american voters. this is a democracy. so if he'll be ousted. if he decides to stay there, you can have people pulling him. maneing armed guards escorting him out of the white house. it's a people's house. it doesn't ploening to president trump. let's hope there is not going to pilfer things or sabotage documents and hardware and the like mack light for biden more difficult. >> it does make you wonder, that wonderful tradition of the president's leaving letters for their successors, if that tradition will continue as well? >> yeah, maybe president trump believes are you a loser, you didn't win, it's all rigged. he might leave some kind of hate note for biden. but are you not going to have that tradition carried on. a more recent tradition, incidentally. which is okay.

but, look, president trump is calculate what advantage he can get as springboard for probably rung four years from now and he wants to just like he did the brtherrism with barack obama, he's going to keep saying biden is a fake president. cnn, we're fake news and this is his m-o. you spread conspiracy theories and try to get people to believe it. i'm afraid we are outgoing president is a charlton at heart. >> it's a new chapter in american history for sure. thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. iran is promising to retaliate after a top nuclear scientist was killed in an american assassination plot. what this could mean for the region and also the incoming biden administration.

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iran today is vowing revenge after a top scientist is seen as the mastermind behind its nuclear program was killed in an alleged assassination plot. iran's defense ministry says he died friday when hess car was ambushed outside tehran. top officials are pointing the finger direct lip at israel. the u.s. says it's monitoring developments but has not publicly commented on the attack. the attack comes weeks after a global watchdog says they had 12 times the enriched uranium permitted under the nuclear deal which the trump administration withdrew from back in 2018. joining me now is national analyst david sanger. thanks for being with us

tonight. how big of a blow is all of this to iran's nuclear all businesses? >> well, it's a significant blow. because this is a skypetist who led the entire operation for about two decades. and he was named by prime minister netanyahu two years ago as the leader of a really vast program and he appeared to have been behind much of the work done in the early 2000s on the design of a warhead. that program was formally abandoned in 2003, but there is some evidence that it continued in his laboratories ever since. the big question is, is this truly a long-term setback? or are the iranians going to bounce back the way they bounced back from the israel-american attacks ten years ago and from the explosion over the summer of

another one of the facilities also an explosion attributed to israel? >> and you where i in a new piece that this alleged assassination complicates the incoming biden administration's plan to re-engage with iran. walk us through why that is? >> well, the biden administration has been very clear that it believes that president trump made a very major mistake when he withdrew in 2018 from the nuclear accord that the obama administration in at least three years before with iran and vice president, i'm sorry, joe biden has been extremely fit that he will go back into the deal assuming the iranians are also willing to go back within its limits. in other words, he would lift sanctions if the iranians would go back to the production limits, which were quite severe and says he would negotiate a newer deal that would last longer and solve many of the

defects than the original deal. who knows if the iranians will go along with that. but the iranians have hastened now to retaliate after the united states killed solemani and over the summer. now question is do they buy their time and say let's just wait for two months and start negotiating with president biden once he takes office or are they tempted to retalia it for this as is nation, which could also blow up the entire process. that may have been what the israelis had in mind assuming it was correct. >> there is a lot of moving parts there. as you mentioned, this is the third high-profile attack against iran and its interests this year. do you think the u.s. or israel should be worried about what comes next? i know you were talking earlier

about maybe they retaliate, maybe they >> well, certainly they do need to be concerned. it's one of the reasons we suspect but don't know that the israelis gave some advance warning to the united states. you remember secretary of state pompeo was in israel less than a week ago. the u.s. has not said very much whether they have gotten any advanced notice. what does seem clear is that this is a very risky period we're heading into, that there was concern about retaliation just because we were getting to the first anniversary of the killing of general soleimani in early january, jessica. and now you have this on top of it. so the united states kills the leading general, who was running the qods force, the elite military unit. israel, we believe, was the killing behind their top scientist. you've got to think that's going to build in a big movement

within the islamic revolutionary guard to retaliate in a big way. the question is, can they keep that from happening in an effort to get the sanctions lifted? and it's not clear how this is going to sort out in iran. >> yeah, we'll have to see how it does sort itself out. david sanger, thank you for joining us tonight. >> great to be with you, jessica. well, secret parties and underground bars. some americans desire to party is adding to the surge in coronavirus cases around the country and now police are cracking down. >> what would you say young men need most right now? some hot cocoa?

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even as cases and hospitalizations spike all across the country, police are seeing a spate of crowded underground parties in violation of local covid guidelines. cnn's stephanie elam reports. >> reporter: from a fight club called the rumble in the bronx -- >> these activities were illegal and sometimes deadly before covid. >> reporter: to a warehouse shooting. coast to coast, secret parties busted by cops, like this allegedly illegal bottle club with 120 people inside, last weekend in new york city. where deputies also shut down a swinger's club with 80 people inside. >> the best and most pragmatic method for deputies to save lives is to maximize enforcement

at these types of gatherings. >> reporter: in los angeles, two warehouse parties led to two different shootings, exposing a reality that even in a pandemic, people are determined to party. lapd says many warehouses are falsely booked as video shoots. >> the fact that they're in industrial areas, often times they don't get the same kind of attention it would in the residential areas. >> reporter: would lapd tell these warehouse owners? >> we ask them to ask more questions, be more selective and better identify what the purpose of that is going to be. >> reporter: the extent of the problem here, unknown. but on the same night of this warehouse shooting two weeks ago -- >> we have a big party going on. >> reporter: there were social media post there is this gathering in down loun l.a. and this one posted last weekend. the parties are often organized online, with no location given until hours before the event. lapd says in an era of police

reform, the department must think hard about sending armed officers to a gathering where no additional crimes are reported. >> and so in those instances where a response would be more geared towards public health issues or we could direct, you know, unarmed response through -- we have partners in the fire department, there are other entities that could better respond to those things. >> reporter: a curfew in los angeles county may have had an impact. we found two separate warehouse parties canceled last weekend, just hours before the curfew was to take effect. in california, raves were held outside in san bernardino county, where the local health department approves and monitors them. but in the cold weather of new york -- >> sheriff's office would be concentrating on large-scale gatherings. >> reporter: authorities declared the underground party is over. stephanie elam, cnn, los angeles.

good evening to you. you're live in the cnn newsroom. and i'm jessica dean in washington. with every day joe biden moves closer to the oval office, and president donald trump's quest to overturn the election looks a little more ridiculous. 53 days from the inauguration, president trump refuses to admit defeat. yesterday and today when he wasn't golfing, president trump was tweeting out more claims about fraud in the 2020 election. even after a judge, one he appointed, tossed out another lawsuit. and last hour, we learned that another case filed in pennsylvania by a republican congressman was thrown out by the state supreme court. and while the president focuses on the election he lost, the american people continue to be sickened by the coronavirus at an alarming rate. today, marking the 26th straight day the u.s. has recorded more

than 100,000