thy there. i'm kristen sze. welcome to our daily program called "getting answers" we're asking questions to get answers for you in real time. today we'll talk to a state superintendent of instruction as california rolls back restrictions. we'll talk about what this mean for your students at their schools. first, we want to focus on the transfer of power as president trump refuses to concede the election. the next guest knows quite a bit about this process. she's also author of a new new york times bestseller. she was also the senior advisor to president obama and co-chair

of the 2008 obama-biden transition team. thanks for coming back. >> it's a pleasure to be with you. i hope you're well. >> i certainly am. you were optimistic, hopeful but nervous when we talked before the election. right now i've got to say congratulations, because i know you've got to be thrilled. >> i absolutely am thrilled. i think president biden and vice president harris will be focused like a laser on getting this virus under control as well as getting our economy back on track. doing the healing that i think so many in our country are hungry for. run hungry for. >> tell us something we don't know about how he's feeling and what he's saying to shows closest to him. >> i think he's greatful that ss

many people voted for him for president than ever before in our nation's history. i think he is grateful and he will work hard every single day to earn that trust. this isn't over with the election. this is who he is at a human being. he's focused on making our lives better. i think people get a feeling about president-elect biden and i will say after working with him for eight years, trust your instinct. he's a competent, experienced, empathetic good human being and he appeals to the grace and better angels in all of us. >> and he certainly has been working hard. we've seen him doing all these briefings in the past few days on the economy, on covid-19, on national security. he's doing this even though president trump has not conceded. i wonder if you see baby steps today, just today, in terms of

republicans accepting the outcome of the election. we had senator majority leader mcconnell promise an orderly transition. we saw on the senate floor gop senators congratulating kamala harris with a fist bump on the senate floor. what do you make of all this? >> i would say tiny baby steps that are long overdue. vice president, now president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris was -- their election was called over a week ago, a week ago saturday. and having had the experience of c co-chairing the transition team, every day is precious. particularly when here we're in the mitts of a crisis. so yes, he announced on his first day the coronavirus task force. he announced.

he reflects the rich diversity of our country. he is giving speeches about how dreadful it would be to have the about being declared constitutional. as i talk to people around the country. but he's not getting the cooperation that he needs from president trump and his administration and that is to herr peril. >> let's talk about that. as you said, the general services administration, administer, eleanor mur efficiency a political appointee has not yet gotten the election results, she's not signed off on the money, so biden can get the important intelligence breechks he needs. what's the president-elect's plan? how does he get around that? >> well, he is doing the best he can by bringing in advisors who are steeped in national

security, people from his administration when he served with president obama, who are up to speed on a lot of these issues, people who left the trump administration who feel it is their patriotic duty to cooperate and so he's going to do the best he can to be able to hit the ground running. it would be so much more efficient and better if he didn't have to do a work-around. we shouldn't be working around when we're in the middle of the pandemic and people are losing their jobs. look, a vaccine does not save lives. vaccinations save lives. right now the trump administration is making plans for next year how to distribute this vaccine when it's available. well, it's only fair that the president-elect's team be well involved in that process, since it's going to happen on their watch. if there's a delay in how the vaccine is distributed because of a delay in the cooperation with this transition, then

that's sending a terrible message to the american people, where they fall on the spectrum of proirtsds. they should be at the top of the list. it will be such an important signal for president trump to say this isn't about me. elections happen. i didn't win. i pledge my support to -- like obama did for him and just as president bush did for us. >> with regard to covid, could this possibly actually lead to the delay in people getting vaccines and could this cost lives? >> it could and that's what the president-elect said yesterday. we are jeopardizing the lives of the american people. it is so important for the president-elect to hit the ground running fully up to speed on everything that the trump administration is doing on day one. you see how this pandemic is spreading exponentially each day, so seconds matter.

and the question is, why wouldn't you? why wouldn't you want to make sure that your successor can hit the ground running. what would be holding you back? if you want to pursue lawsuits that have all been thrown out, there's your privilege to do so but at the same time, share the information. >> you think this will last until the electoral college meets on december 14th? >> i could not predict what president trump will do. >> ok. all right. >> i would theep the republicans would begin to put pressure on him to cooperate. many of them serve on intelligence committees. they understand the level of information that should be made available to him to keep us safe. let's keep in mind la the world is watching, not just our friends but our enemies. we look vulnerable. why on earth would the republicans in the house and senate want us to look vulnerab vulnerable. they're going to be here when the president is gone. >> he's still the president for

two more months. democrats are starting to worry. he's asked for options for bombing iran. he's withdrawing troops from iraq. he's selling off oil rights in alaska. are these things reversible when president-elect biden takes office? >> take them one by one. if he bombs iran, there's no way to stop it. and so there is one president at a final. he is in his rightsed to whatever is in the power of the president to do during this period of transition, but his bread saysers preached the wisdom of collaborating. he is breaking with an important tradition, which is a part of that smooth transition of government. >> the other thing that democrats have expressed concern over is that president trump seems to be rushing to put

loyalists in civil service positions. those are jobs that don't go away when the appointments leave. they stay. for example, jason richwine who argue that blacks are inferior to whites. i mean, will these hirings stand? >> i defer to the lawyers about that, but it's appalling to hire someone with that background in the first place. again, when you're in the some of a transition and you're leaving office, you have a responsibility to the american people to until your last day there act responsibly. >> well, let me ask you. once president-elect biden is sworn in, what are his first actions you expect on the world stage as president in terms of, you know, how he relates to the world? >> he has been receiving phone calls from world leaders who recognize that he won the

election. he has relationships with many. in those he doesn't, he's interested in having the united states be back and part of the world inter prize and he has said, for example, that is he intends to rejoin the paris climate accord. nearly 200 countries came together to tackle climate change. he has said he's going to rejoin the world health organization. we shouldn't be in isolation as we combat this pandemic. we should be working with the world health organization. he's glowing to give the dreamers permanent nance. they've been in limbo. those are the folks who were not born in this country but who are still youngsters and came here through no fault of their own. he's directing his agencies to change policies of the trump administration. the priority right now is let's

fill the white house positions beginning with the chief of staff and senior team. he'll be look for getting people ready to be introduced, nominated for the cabinet and getting their confirmations up and running. there's a lot of important work that needs to be done. he has a terrific team both in the transition and now the initial team he is fighting for the white house will do everything in their power to hit the ground running. >> i'm out of time but i've just got to get this last question in. in your role as an advisor, how would you advise president-elect biden? 70 million people voted for the other guy. not all of them say not my president, but some do. how would you advise him? >> well, i think he's already doing what the nation needs him to do. he said during the campaign, i'm going to campaign as a democrat but pwill be the p president of

all. he made new relationships when he was the vice president. he will comport himself in a presidential way with the temperament and competency that he's always exuded, and he will welcome, he will extend that olive branch to both the republicans as well as the very progressive side of the democratic party. that's who he is and he's looking forward to serving as our president, i know. >> all right. valerie jarrett, former senior advisor to president obama. thank you so very much. >> you are so welcome. >> take care. >> stay safe. >> see you soon. lfrtd. we're going to take a short break but next, covid-19 and schools in california. state

. welcome back. schools are among the many concerns as the pandemic is getting worse than it's been here in california. joining us to talk about what happens now, state school superintendent tony they areman. good to see you. thank you for joining us. >> good afternoon, thank you for having me on. >> what percentage of elementary schools and high schools are open roughly in california? >> i'd put it at a very small percentage. many schools have just been trying to get to a place where they can open in january, but obviously, the new covid impact numbers are showing that that's going to be hard. right now most schools are in distance learning and trying to figure out how to safely get open. >> ok. so help us understand. 41 out of 58 counties now in purposing, as you mentioned. that tier means no schools ks reopen if they haven't already,

right? >> that's correct. >> what about schools who had plans to open soon? does anything need to change? >> well, if a school district in a purple -- in an area that reverts to being purple, if that district was already open, it is still possible for that school district to remain open. ultimately the county health faef needs to agree, so we've seen a knew examples, actually, where schools have gone ahead and opened even though they have fallen back into the purple. >> what if the school is partially open already, let's say it's just certain grades. can they open up more grades right now if they're in purple? >> i think there's going to be some hesitancy from some of the health officers to have them adding grades. i think they're incliepd to say stick with what you have that's open. they don't want to have schools opening and closing and opening and closing. i think they're going to be hesitant to say we're really

going to open any new grades or add new grades. they want to take their time and don't monitor conditions, so these next two weeks are critical. we're moving into thanksgiving, a time people are worried is going to really ratchet up the numbers of infection. right now is an important time for all of us to do what we can. to stem the spread of covid-19. >> so morph o our kids have a chance to get back in january or sometime in the spring, right? ok. fitch any has a question. if businesses can be opened where restrictions, why can't high schools? that dpove tails with my question. does it make sense what we're opening and not opening given the transmission in high schools or schools? >> well, thank you for your question. just to be clear, tiffany, nothing in the state has said high schools cannot open, but what we're doing here, again, local school districts are making the decisions but they're being cautious, as they should.

to be clear, a lot of counties have fallen into a situation where businesses have had to close indoor dining and things of that nature. we're seeing a scaling back. i think that's a signal that we should be careful as it relates to schools as well. >> no doubt. are there a lot of cases related to kids' associations at school or no? >> i can only tell you about the few school districts that we've been monitoring where they owned they're either closed because of the increase of cases or they've got classrooms under quarantine. i can give you districts that if they have classes under quarantine or they've had to close. new york city schools on the verge of potentially closing because we keep seeing the numbers increase. we've got to be cautious. >> we know some school districts in the bay area, elementary schools, middle schools that have been open for about a month and so far, they're doing ok. some have added air purifiers,

ventilation. what have you heard about best practices-and-or what's worked for schools who have opened and stayed open? >> this is not subtle science. but even with air purifiers that covid can be airborne in that -- our purification systems are not necessarily enough to really stem covid. so what's worked the best is when the weather was good enough to have outdoor activities and oefsly today in the bay area we got rain. so things are changing. we're moving into a period that's going to be more difficult. so the trend has been for those schools that have opened, to start with the lower grades and to let middle and high school students do more distance learning. that's not perfect. we want them to have social contact. but schools have been trying to move slowly and we encourage them to move slowly and safely. >> yesterday in his briefing the governor said he was about to sign off on the cif, high school

interscholastic sports, but now it's on hold. football or valuable volleyball, any word when they're going to start? >> i think people will continue to monitor. having students have contact puts them in harm's way. we don't have robust testing like they do in professional sports. that's the difference between professional, college, and high school sports. they have access to unlimited covid testing. we're working to get more covid testing in the state but we just don't have it like that. now is the time for us to pause and wait and continue to monitor until the conditions improve. >> all right. we'll take a short break on the air but continue of the break.

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instruction, tony they areman. we talk about how high school athletics are not happening right now. i'm wondering if you're worried about certain kids losing them for good. like they're only showing up to their zoom distance learning classes because they had a hope of playing football and they want to stay eligible. what about those kids? >> i totally get it. i was a student like that. what happened in the after school times got me excited about being in school. there's no question that this is a challenge. i just -- you know, as a parent it's hard to imagine putting kids in harm's way when we don't really know exactly what the impacts are and we're hearing examples of more exposures. right now is a very dangerous time. we have to be careful. we can control our destiny. we've got to do what we can to stem the surge. if we do that, we put ourselves in a position where our schools can open up in january and we can look to the future in terms of when sporting events can take place again. >> many of our facebook viewers

are worried about kids' mental health. so many are suffering. meg app wants to know, addiction and loss of life in our children, those are at an all-time high. can we talk about that? how can you help with that? >> there's no question, megan, that this has -- this pandemic has a pandemic. the state of california has given all our school districts about $3.5 billion. now's a very important time for that. we're going to provide some grants to school districts to do more around social, emotional learning. we've got a counselling coalition that's helping to fill in. schools are doing the best to get counsellors connected to students. they're doing more live zoom so that students see their professors and educators so that they're connected. it's definitely a tough time but we're going to continue to do more to get more social.

>> i know you've been trying to bridge the digital divide in terms of getting wi-fi, laptops, all that. still in l.a. unified, they say failing grades are surging among the poor students and, in fact, some parents have filed a class action lawsuit. how can that be addressed. >> there's no question that in this pandemic, low income students or students of color have experienced learning glaps and that means we have to do more providing computing devices, we have to do more to provide family engagement, meaning that the school stays connected to the families when they need help, as someone to talk to. so we're rolling out some family engagement strategies we've been working on, getting more computers. we have challenge in the state but we have a lot of communities that don't have the infrastructure for internet. we're working with the legislature on plans to do that. with the new president-elect we

hope there's nor federal funding to come to california and all states. we've got to do a better job of connecting our students with computers. >> i was going to ask you, what do you think the piped. si will mean for california and education? >> i think it means great things. president-elect biden has proved away from the threats. we heard threats from president trump, open, lose your funding. schools are scared. they need resources and they need help. president-elect biden is offering resources. he's talking about more funding for special education, more funding to pay teachers better and of course to address technology. this is exactly what will we need. it's a hopeful time. big challenges ahead but hopeful. >> are you willing to take a guess as to when most will be able to get back many in the classroom? >> i can only say what schools

have been saying. prior to this week, most schools have been moving towards opening in january. obviously, things have taken a turn in a dangerous direction. 41 counties in the most restrictive tiers. now we have to slow down and be mind. . >> if we do that together the odds are better. le

and welcome back. thank you so much for joining us on this interactive show "getting answers." today we talked about concerns over the transfer of power with a former senior advisor to president obama, valerie jarrett. we also heard from state school superintendent tony they areman about the future of schools. we'll be here every day on air

and live tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. images from hospitals across this country at their breaking point. and news coming in tonight from pfizer on their vaccine. what they're now saying. hospitals hitting record numbers, cases now on the rise in every state. governors from maryland to ohio today announcing new curfews. iowa's governor, after blasting masks, calling them a feel good measure, is now man dating masks. in oklahoma, hospitals now over capacity. tonight, the wife suiting up in protective gear to get to her husband on a ventilator. and that news from pfizer. what the ceo said today about emergency authorization and once that happens, saying some americans will have the vaccine in hours, not days. the long lines tonight. americans in several states waiting hours to be tested. some are doing this a